Would you take a step forward?
by Vanillaberries
Summary: Lily has always hated James. James has always loved Lily. Will love start to bloom between them in their seventh and final year in Hogwarts. Marauders, fun and pairings : Lily/James, Sirius/OC and Remus/OC
1. Chapter 1: On the Platform

Would you take a step forward?

"Are you sure you'll be alright dear?" Alice Evans asked her daughter worriedly. Lily Evans smiled; her mother was always like this when Lily left for Hogwarts, full of panic and worry. Her father David Evans, on the other hand, took things a little more lightly.

"Lily! Oh my god I've missed you so so so much!" a voice screamed from behind Lily. It was Lily's best friend Caitlyn. Lily ran up to her and hugged her, saying, "Me too! Come on, lets put our bags on the train. I have sooo much to tell you; France was amaaaaazing!"

As the two teens walked off together, they heard a cocky voice behind them. "Hey Evans, miss me?" Lily knew that voice, she turned round to face him. James Potter was (by far ) the hottest, fittest, most good-looking guy in Hogwarts with jet black hair, tall, lean yet muscular figure and the most gorgeous hazel eyes. They made every girl fall at his feet, well except for Lily.

Lily scanned over his figure briefly before hitting herself mentally. "Focus Lily, this is THE James Potter you've always hated, why are you checking him out?" but a tiny voice whisipered, "Oh come on Lily, look at him! You know you want him...just admit it"

Lily shook her head; she had to admit, James Potter seemed to become more attractive (and hot) each year from their summer holidays. She could literally see his muscles popping out from his shirt!

But then again, it was Potter. She hated him; he was cocky, self-centered, arrogant, egoistic and too full of himself. Everything that she despised.

"But he's undeniably hot." the voice whispered in her mind again. She shook her head again, suddenly wondering where all these thoughts were coming from.

Two fingers clicked infront of her; "Evans, you need to stop dreaming about Jamesie here. It's just becoming sooo obvious" a teasing voice came loudly. Lily jumped, startled then frowned when she saw who it was.

With long, rugged black hair, Sirius Black was the guy every girl in Hogwarts wanted to date. He was good-looking, funny and a total charmer.

"Black, you seriously need to rethink before you say anything. I have and always will hate Potter – there is no chance in hell I'd date him!", Lily held her head up high.

"Is it so? I certainly remember a certain familiar girl having a huge crush on James here in our first year" Sirius teased slyly. Lily blushed; in her first year, for the first month or so, she had a crush on James. But all that had died away when she realized what an insufferable idiot he was, Lily thought to herself.

*Flashback*

A group of 11 year olds come out of the Transfiguration classroom, talking about the new spell they had just learnt.

A petite redhead girl and and a boy with jet-black hair are just two of them. "So what lesson do you have next Evans?" James asks.

Lily blushes and fumbles with her words, "Umm..um I think um I have Charms with Professor um Flitwick"

Next to James, Sirius grins. If James couldn't see that Lily Evans had a crush on him, he was just plain thick in the head.

James smiles charmingly. "Us too! Great, maybe we three can walk there together." He puts an arm round Lily and starts walking with Sirius by his side.

Lily turns a deep red as a huge smile lights up her face.

*End of flashback*

James gaped, "You liked me in our first year, Evans?!"

"Oh get over it Potter! It was only for a month!" With this Lily stormed onto the train with Caitlyn but not before giving Sirius a death glare. Sirius chuckled, "She's got it hard for you mate, she just needs time to show it."

James sighed, "I don't know, she just seems to hate me Padfoot." And with this, James too proceeded onto the train, feeling dejected from Lily's words.

The phrase "I have and always will hate Potter – there's no chance in hell I'd date him" just kept on playing in his mind.


	2. Chapter 2: The Train Journey

Would you take a step forward?

Chapter 2

As Caitlyn tried to find an empty compartment on the train, Lily rambled on about James and Sirius.

"Just who do Potter and Black think they are?! Ok, maybe I liked Potter back in our first year BUT that was before I realized what an arrogant idiot he was! I mean look at how many times he's asked me out before!"

"Lily, calm down; James isn't that bad you know, infact Remus said he's changed over the summer and besides, weren't you the one that said you didn't care about James?" Caitlyn asked, sighing as she sat down on a seat. She really did think (secretly) that James and Lily were meant for each other; Lily just wouldn't give him the time of the day.

"I don't care about him; infact just thinking about him makes me annoyed! And since when have you started calling him James?"

"Jealous Evans? Well I always thought you had the hots for Prongs," Sirius grinned cheekily as he slid the compartment doors open and plonked himself next to Caitlyn. With this, Caitlyn frowned and shifted away from him. Seeing this exchange, Lily momentarily giggled, thinking of Caitlyn and Sirius together; she then turned to Sirius.

"Cut it out Black. Anyone can see I loathe Potter; if you think I'd EVER like him, you better keep on dreaming" she finished with a slight smile.

Sirius didn't laugh, infact he frowned and looked over Lily's shoulder as his eyes widened. "Prongs..."

In the doorway, James stood with a sad smile on his face. "Well atleast I know how you feel about me Evans"

Lily, speechless, thought to herself, 'Drat! Obviously he's heard too much. Look at his face Lily, do something!'

"Well...um I best be getting to the heads compartment now. I'll see you later Caitlyn, Black...Potter" she said and nodded while she hurried out. James then sighed heavily while Caitlyn patted his shoulder.

"It'll get better James; she just doesn't know what she's missing out on" she smiled comfortingly. James returned the gesture.

"Hey! What about me?!" Sirius pouted with cute puppy dog eyes. Caitlyn slapped him and grinned; Sirius Black would never grow up.

"Well I guess, I should head out to meet the prefects. After all I am Head Boy" James chuckled and stood up tall.

Caitlyn gaped, her mouth open like a fish, then weakly smiled.

"Congratulations James!" she said as he headed out but inside she thought to herself 'Oh dear! Lily's going to throw a fit when she comes to know...poor James!'

**************

Lily hummed to herself a familiar tune as some more prefects piled in through the doors. She thought back to what Caitlyn had said before:

'James isn't that bad you know, infact Remus said he's changed over the summer' the words played.

'Remus would never lie, maybe Potter has changed' she thought.

'No way, he's too cocky, he would never change' another voice went.

'But you saw his sad face when you said those things to Sirius'

'He was probably faking it...Potter is also Caitlyn's quidditch captain, she might just be praising him'

'But then again, Caitlyn would know best right? She knows him better'

Lily shook her head; she had to get these thoughts out of her head, they just confused her to no end. Had James Potter really changed over the summer? Could he really have become mature? The thought was just too impossible to Lily.

As the final few prefects came into the compartment, Lily frowned and checked the time on her watch. Where was the Head Boy? He better not be late, Lily thought, 'cause then he'd spoil everything.

Ever since Lily had entered Hogwarts, she had dreamed of becoming Head Girl. Now that she had been granted that prestigious position, the only thing she was hoping for was a good partner. All summer, she had hoped it would be Remus or Amos Diggory; atleast she got along well with them.

Finally, after 10 minutes of waiting, the Head Boy entered. Lily turned, excited yet annoyed at the excessive lateness, to see who it was; the only reaction that came was speechlessness.

With jet-black hair, (gorgeous ) hazel eyes, muscles and glasses, James Potter grinned slightly, making all the girl prefects sigh and swoon.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another compartment further down the train, the rest of the Marauders and Caitlyn were chatting about their two head students.

"Do you think Lily would have taken it well?" Caitlyn asked. Sirius snorted loudly, chuckling at her statement.

"Yeh rite! Knowing Evans, she's probably chopped his head off by now and is thinking of ways how to put it in our food" as he laughed heartily. The Marauders shared a brief smile together.

"Yeh, like you remember that time in fifth year, when James asked Lily out again and she cursed him because she was in a bad mood" Caitlyn thought as everybody laughed at the memory.

*Flashback*

James walks down the hallway, talking to the Marauders about his new quidditch tactics. He sees Lily and his face immediately brightens up, forgetting everything else.

"Prongs, oi PRONGS!" Sirius yells as James walks up to Lily, transfiguring a piece of parchment in his bag to a red rose as he advances towards her. He taps her shoulder gently.

"What is it?" Lily turns round, "Oh it's you Potter. What do you want now?"

"Go out with me Evans?" he says cockily as he produces the rose from behind him.

Lily flares up and quickly whips her wand out from her pocket. "Say that again Potter and I'll hex you!" she warns him. "Go out with me Evans? You know you wan- "

Before James can finish his sentence, Lily yells a spell at him and boils start to erupt all over James' body. He screams outloud, surprised; he looks to Lily's side and sees Caitlyn and the rest of the Marauders. All of them were laughing, even Remus, who tried to keep a straight face.

*End of flashback*

Caitlyn sighed, "I hope that's all going to change this year. I mean they're staying together!"

*******************

Back in the Heads' compartment, Lily had finally gotten her voice back.

"YOU?! Why on earth would Dumbledore appoint YOU Head Boy?! You're anything but responsible Potter!"

At this, a few of the girls glared at Lily. It was well known that James only had eyes for one girl, Lily Evans. He had dated many but only several of them lasted quite long. Any girl in the population of Hogwarts would have gladly traded positions with Lily. James furrowed his eyebrows but replied coolly,

"I don't see why it should bother you who Dumbledore has chosen for Head Boy. Honestly, beats me why he chose me but I don't think you should question his reasons."

With this, Lily looked quite taken-aback; Potter had never speaken to her like this, so coldly. She struggled to reply,

"Well um you're late Potter. I uh think you should take a seat now."

James' face softened as he took her seat next to her; she shifted about uncomfortably, looking at their close proximity. But her head snapped up when James began talking to the prefects about the coming year. 'Who would think Potter could be so mature?' Lily thought. She cleared her voice and began talking too.

After the meeting had finished and the prefects left the compartment, James rose to return to his friends but Lily grabbed his arm. She looked into his eyes before saying,

'I'm sorry Potter, I shouldn't have screamed at you infront of the prefects and my conversation with Sirius...well I'm sorry you had to hear that" she offered politely. James smiled at her and laughed.

"You're a strange one Evans. Who would ever think you'd be apologizing to me?! Evans...I've changed over the summer, become more mature. Maybe we could start over again, maybe become friends?"

Lily paused for a few seconds, looking uncertain.

'This is Potter you're talking about Lily, he'd probably taunt and tease you'

'But he seems to have grown up, give him a chance' The voices went again.

Finally, she shook his outstretched hand and nodded, smiling. "Alright Potter, but that's only one chance I'm giving you. And no asking me out!"

James frowned slightly but continued to smile. "If that's what it takes to be liked by you and become your friend' he thought.


	3. Chapter 3: First Day Back

Would you take a step forward?

Chapter 3

The train soon came to a halt, when all the students hopped off the train with their bags and trunks.

"First Years this way please! Hello James, Lily, congratulations on becoming Heads!" Hagrid said when he saw James and Lily coming off. All the first years scrambled off towards Hagrid, following his every step.

Lily smiled; Hagrid had always been a good source of comfort for her, she knew he would always hold his door open for her to come in. James, on the other hand, sneaked a glance at Lily, grinning himself at the sight of her smiling. He loved to see her smile, the way her emerald green eyes lit up and her red hair seem more beautiful then ever. James sighed; 'Yep, she's too good to be true' he thought.

"Hey Prongs, quit staring at Evans!" Sirius yelled slightly from behind him. James turned round, blushing, and glared at Sirius. Lily frowned and walked off towards the castle with Caitlyn while the rest of the Marauders caught up with James.

"Can you feel the love tonight James?" Remus smiled and said teasingly.

"Huh?" the rest of the Marauders weren't very well-versed with Muggle life.

"Nothing...just a famous Muggle song," Remus shook his head.

"You couldn't be more obvious could you Padfoot?" James said.

Sirius chuckled and patted James' back. "Oh come on Prongs. Everbody in Hogwarts knows that you're in lurrrrvvveee with Evans!" he teased.

James smiled and punched Sirius slightly in the arm. "Come on, we better head down to the castle. The feast is going to start soon," at this Peter licked his lips but James continued sarcastically, "and I soo want to see the house sorting,"

As the Marauders headed towards the castle, a dark shadowy figure emerged from one of the trees.

"Stupid Potter thinks he can get Lily to like him, she'll never like him, she hates him!" Severus muttered to himself as he ran up to the castle himself.

* * *

When the house sorting was finished and Professor McGonagall had returned to her seat, Dumbledore began his speech.

"Welcome back all students of Hogwarts. For many, this is your first year and for many, this will be your last year; I'd like to wish you all the luck for coming year. The times now are hard times, Voldemort is rising and many innocent people have lost their loved ones. I, personally, would like you all to stay strong during these troubled times."

Everybody glanced round, feeling the uncomfortable atmosphere. Dumbledore continued, "Now, moving onto a lighter subject, I'd like to congratulate both James Potter and Lily Evans on becoming this year's Head students. And just for a reminder, entry into the Forbidden Forest is strictly prohibited unless myself or another member of staff has agreed."

At this, Dumbledore looked specifically at the Gryffindor table, where the Marauders were seated, and his eyes twinkled with a smile. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter shared a look then nodded together; it was time for their annual 'first day back' prank.

Suddenly, green jelly gloops started falling from the ceiling upon the Slytherin table, producing many screeches, screams and a few curses at the Marauders could be heard, especially aimed at James and Sirius.

Dumbledore chuckled and silenced a few of the panicking Slytherins. Meanwhile on the Gryffindor table, everybody, including Lily and Caitlyn, were nearly in splits laughing.

'What a way to start off the beginning of the year' James thought as he looked down the table to where Lily was seated. He grinned when he saw her laughing with Caitlyn.

At the same time, Lily glanced down the table to where the Marauders had sat. She caught James' eye and he grinned charmingly, before she turned away, blushing.

Both and Sirius and Caitlyn noticed this exchange and gave each other a look. 'Yep, there's definitely something going on with Lily and James...she just won't admit it" Sirius thought and stood up as people were being lead to their house dorms.

***************

When all the Gryffindor students had been led to their respective houses, the Marauders gathered in their dormitory.

"Oi Prongs mate, where you movin' all your stuff to?" Sirius asked, confused.

"I've got my own room in the Heads' Quarters, Padfoot, and I share a common room with Lily!" James exclaimed, thinking about how him and Lily had now become friends.

"Ooooh, Evans and Jamesie sharing a room together, who knows what can happen?" Sirius teased, grinning.

"Haha, very funny Padfoot.," James said but smiling, "Infact, she's even agreed to become friends now; I guess that's a start in the good direction."

Remus smiled and patted James' back. "Always the key to a woman's heart. Start off slow, don't try anything they're not comfortable with." he said.

"Not with my women. I like girls that are fun, daring, funny and spontaneous. You could also add the sexy part in too," Sirius boasted, grinning cheekily.

"Oh my god! Sirius used a big word, hallelujah!" James exclaimed mockingly, only to receive a flying pillow sent his way. James ducked (cuz of his amazing quidditch skills ) and it hit Peter square on the face.

"Oi!" Peter squeaked, the same that time that James yelled "Hah! you missed!".

Remus, witnessing this whole scene, shook his head, smiling, wondering what strange friends he had made in Hogwarts.

*******************

As Lily plonked down on her own bed, exhausted, she heard the Heads door open and slam shut. James had obviously come in. She then heard footsteps towards her room and soon a knock on her door.

"Evans, you in there? Can I come in?" he asked.

A thought ran through Lily's mind; 'Since when did James Potter get ever so polite? Last year he would have barged straight in. Could he have changed?"

James entered and stood awkwardly near the door while Lily quickly got up from the bed.

"Uh, I bumped into Dumbledore on my way back from the guys' dorms and uh, he told me that we have to meet him tomorrow morning after our timetables have been sorted out."

Lily nodded and said "Alright. So...I'll see you tomorrow then Potter. Uh, goodnight," finishing abruptly.

James muttered 'goodnight' and hurried out of the door.

Firstly, it was strange enough to be standing in Lily Evans' room. Secondly, he had never seen her wearing anying but mainly school clothes so to see her in shorts and spaghetti straps had caused him to blush a deep red.

******************

At 5:30, Lily's alarm clock went off with a loud ring. As she took a shower and got dressed, thoughts from the night before sprang back to her mind. **Had James Potter really changed?**

But she didn't have time to think about it much longer since she needed to be at the Great Hall soon.

"I'm never late on the first day and I won't be this year!" Lily said to herself as she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind.

Making her way to the Great Hall, she wondered whether this year would be any different from her other years in Hogwarts. For starters, she agreed to becoming friends with James Potter, a guy she thought she hated. What other surprises would the year bring to her?

When she entered the hall, she found many of people already seated. Caitlyn had come down with the other girls in her dorm and the Marauders were right next to her.

"Oh dear, breakfast with the Marauders, how fun!" she thought sarcastically as she sat down at the table.

"Look, Prongs, Evans is here!" Sirius exclaimed as James blushed. James muttered his hello, Remus gave her a warm smile while Peter just nodded, as his mouth was crammed full of food.

"So how's the room Lily? James said his was amazing, exactly his dream type of bedroom. You both are soo lucky, having your own room and common room to yourselves. Imagine sharing a dorm with Rachel and Mina!" Caitlyn complained, thinking of her roommates.

Rachel Roberts and Mina Bones were both two girls who had an obsession with James and Sirius. They were stuck-up, annoying (very whiney voices, lots of giggles) and too full of themselves; basically everything the two Marauders hated.

By the time everyone had eaten and the timetables had been given out, it was time for James and Lily to meet Professor Dumbledore.

**************

Lily reached there first. 'Potter's late. Again. How had I thought he had changed?!" before she heard a voice behind her say,

"I don't think you want to make too hasty a judgment Miss Evans. Infact, I believe that Mr Potter has already taken a seat inside my office. Go in; the password is Honeydukes."

Both Lily and Dumbledore entered his office to find, to Lily's surprise, James seated quite comfortably on a chair.

"Please take a seat Lily. Now, I called you two here to discuss somethings that I'd like you to do. First off, the social events. Every year, both of our Head students have to plan 3 social events together: a Christmas event, something Mid-term and the graduation ball. Contact me for any further ideas you two gather. Next, most importantly, the safety of the students. I'm sure you two are well aware of Death Eaters, dementors, inferi and other dark magic. Since Voldemort has risen to power so quickly and so dangerously, I fear for the safety of all Hogwarts' students. Naturally, he will target the school, having so many potential witches and wizards to attack his forces. Therefore, I'd like you both to inform the Prefects that every student should be within their dormitories after school hours and extra caution is to be taken.

Now, any questions?" Dumbledore finished off.

Both Lily and James shook their heads, taking in everything their Headmaster had mentioned.

"Good. Now I don't want you both late for your first class so you better hurry along. Goodbye Ms. Evans, Mr Potter and don't forget, my door is always open to you both when you need." he smiled with a twinkle in his eye as James and Lily exited his office.

Then he sighed and thought to himself, 'Someday you two will save us all...'


	4. Chapter 4: Hogsmeade, Jealousy and Dates

Would you take a step forward?

So last time, James and Lily became friends and met Dumbledore. What's going to happen next with the Maruaders, Lily and Caitlyn?

Chapter 4

When Lily and James compared timetables (or rather James snuck the sheet of paper out of Lily's bag) they found that they had the exact same lessons together. In fact, even Caitlyn and the rest of the Marauders (except for Peter) did.

Both of them met their friends in the Charms classroom, where Professor Flitwick was droning on about the fundamentals of using charms in the 'real' world. Sirius was flicking paper balls at Caitlyn, Peter was wolfing down the remains of his breakfast, Caitlyn was doodling in her book and even Remus looked fairly bored.

James grinned; this was one of the best parts he was going to miss about Hogwarts: the chilled atmosphere, the bonding between friends and the need to forget the world outside.

Lily looked at James, puzzled at his huge grin. He caught her eye and then smiled, indicating towards their seats. She returned the gesture and quickly sat down next to her best friend.

"So what did Dumbledore need with you both? Was it bad news?" Caitlyn whispered, glaring at Sirius behind her back.

"No, he just needed to talk about planning a Christmas thing and graduation ball," Lily whispered back, keeping out the bit about Voldemort because she didn't want scare Caitlyn.

"Ooooooh! A Christmas Ball, how fantastic would that be! And we could have a theme or like a dress code or something! Can I help Lily, I love event planning!" Caitlyn gushed over the prospect of planning the event.

Lily raised her eyebrows; sure, Caitlyn may love event planning but she certainly wasn't good at it. For Lily's 16th birthday, she tried to plan a surprise birthday, only it turned out more like a Mad Marauder Party! She thought back to the memory and giggled.

*Flashback*

Caitlyn said, "Everybody, quick get into their places! Sirius says Lily's coming soon! James, get under that table! Peter, atleast **try** to hide yourself!"

Caitlyn, Lily's best friend, had been planning Lily's 16th birthday party now for 3 weeks. 'It's going to perfect' she thought confidently as she smiled behind the curtains.

Suddenly, they heard Sirius exclaim very loudly 'OH LILY! ISN'T IT SUCH A GOOD DAY LILY!"

Caitlyn winced; Sirius just couldn't be more obvious. Then she heard footsteps and assuming it was Lily, burst out from the curtain, screaming 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Only, at the same time, Peter jumped up from the couch, only to trip up and land face flat on the floor with a scream. James knocked over the table (which he was under and had all the food on it), leaving a food mess on the floor. Remus was supposed to come in on rollerblades, carrying a cake, except he too toppled over himself and ended up stuffing cake on Lily's feet.

Except when Remus looked up, he found it wasn't Lily who had come in but Caitlyn's younger sister, Arabella. Caitlyn, face in complete shock, realize what had happened and yelled

"SIRIUS BLACK, COME HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Sirius strolled in the common room, chuckling. "You called, your majesty-oh dear, what happened here?"

Caitlyn stormed up to him and glared him the eyes. Remus swore that if looks could kill, Sirius would have been dead on the spot.

"Sirius, why did you scream that Lily had come when it was Ara?! You better have a DAMN GOOD REASON BLACK!" she ended up screaming.

Sirius looked around innocently before saying in a cheeky voice, "What?! I thought we could have done with a practice run beforehand!" then grinned and fell on the floor, laughing hard.

Everybody, including Arabella, gave Sirius death glares, before throwing bits of food from the floor at Sirius.

So when Lily came in 10 minutes later, what she found was the Gryffindor common room a mess, a 'Happy 16th Birthday Lily' poster half torn down and Caitlyn, James, Remus, Sirius, Peter and Arabella all covered from head to toe in what was supposed to be her birthday food.

*End of Flashback*

Lily sighed and finally said, "Alright. But please don't try to do anything crazy. We all know what would happen then!"

Caitlyn blushed, but grinned and said "Oh my god, it's going to be so much of fun!"

******************

When all of them finally had a free period together, they went down to the lake and sat down on the grass.

"So James, what do you want to be when we leave Hogwarts?" Caitlyn asked.

"I've always wanted to be a Quidditch player but I mean now, with like Voldemort and everything, I guess I want to be an auror like my Dad," James answered thoughtfully.

"That's smart. Oh Lily, look, it's Michael Diggory." Caitlyn pointed out, looking towards an approaching figure.

"Michael Diggory? As in Amos' younger brother?" James asked, frowning.

"Yeh, the one. He's had a crush on Lily since the end of last year, he's quite crazy about her actually but I mean he's never had the guts to ask her ou-OW Lily! Why'd you kick me?!"

Standing right behind the group was Michael Diggory; he was blushing but smiled warmly at Lily. Caitlyn glanced at the Marauders, only to see frowns and worried looks on their faces. Sirius was glaring at Lily and Michael, Remus was looking anxiously at James while James had a hurt look on his face.

"He obviously still loves her," Caitlyn thought sadly, as she looked at Lily and Michael in the distance, laughing together.

James suddenly coughed, and muttered something about heading back to the castle. Sirius jumped up quickly and went after him, still glaring at the pair in the distance.

"James is always like that when it comes to Lily; he sort of tenses up whenever a guy comes near her. The last time, when Lily went out with Cliff Richards, James bruised his fist from punching the wall. Do you think Lily will go out with Michael?" Remus explained.

"I don't know...well I can't see why she wouldn't. I mean Michael's intelligent, nice, good-looking and total lady's man. All the things that Lily looks for in a guy," Caitlyn answered.

"Total lady's man? That would hardly work with James...he's always been the flirtatious type," Remus chuckled.

"Hmm. I always thought Lily and James would make a good couple, I mean don't they say opposites attract!" exclaimed Caitlyn as she smiled.

Remus nodded and gave her a smile, then sat up and started walking back up to the castle with Caitlyn.

'I wonder if he asked her out' Caitlyn thought, as she stared at the space where Michael and Lily had been walking.

* * *

When Lily entered her room in the Heads' Quarters, she was surprised to find Caitlyn lying on her bed, flicking through her latest copy of 'Witch's Weekly'. Hearing Lily come in, Caitlyn turned around, excited.

"Oh my gosh Lily! Did he ask you out?! Tell me everything!" she exclaimed, badly wanting to know what had happened between Michael and Lily.

Lily giggled and flopped down on the bed. "Well," she started off, "Thanks to your loud explanation, it was a tiny bit awkward at first but it got better. He just asked me generally how my summer was and then said he really liked me. Then, he asked me if I'd like to go out with him on the coming Hogsmeade trip!"

Caitlyn squealed and exclaimed, "Well?! Did you say yes?!"

Lily nodded and giggled. Caitlyn then squealed again and hugged Lily tight.

"Damn Evans, you got the first date of the year" she teased. Lily smiled then asked,

"So, how'd you get in here? I mean, there's a password to enter!" (Caitlyn in bold)

"**Oh James let me in. He figured I might want to meet you," she said happily.**

"Oh."

"**Why the 'oh'? What happened?"**

"Last year, Potter wouldn't have done that for me. Or he wouldn't think about anyone but himself. This year he's become a lot nicer, smarter; he's changed, I guess."

"**Oooooh! Lily, am I hearing correctly? Did you just compliment James Potter? I think the world must be coming to an end!" **

Lily rolled her eyes and smiled; Caitlyn always liked to tease her.

"So tell me, what qualities do you look for in a guy?"

"**Umm...I like guys that are confident, brave, totally sexy," at this Caitlyn giggled but continued, "but are totally soft on the inside, like really sweet and charming. Oh and one of the main features I look for in a guy is humour. They have to be funny."**

"Hmm...sounds a lot like Sirius Black, Caitlyn" Lily teased. Caitlyn looked horrified. Black and her. Never!

"**Pfft...yeh rite!" **and with that, Caitlyn said goodnight to Lily and headed back to her dorm.

*****************

The first few weeks passed by extremely quickly, James noticed. Due to the excessive homework and his Quidditch duties, the Marauders hardly found any time together.

'I guess this is what it's going to be like when we leave Hogwarts' he thought gloomily.

On the other hand, Lily and Caitlyn were spending a lot more time with the Marauders now. Free periods were always spent together and neither of the two minded. Even James and Lily were starting to get along really well. Every night, for patrols, James would try to make Lily laugh or smile, seeing as it was his favourite sight to watch.

Before they knew it, it was time for the first Hogsmeade trip. Out of their group of six, only Lily, James and Sirius had gotten dates. Lily, excited about her date, couldn't wait till the day would come. James, finally getting over the prospect of Lily and Michael together, had asked out Penny Adams from Ravenclaw. Sirius and James both got asked by many of their fans, but unlike James, Sirius accepted from one particular fan, Melanie Creevey (yes, Colin's mother :D)

**************

Lily met Michael at one of the side entrances of Hogwarts. Due to Caitlyn's obsession deciding her clothes, she was slightly late. Wearing a pretty green top with jeans and boots, Lily made both Michael and James speechless when she met them.

"Lily! Over here! You look amazing Lily, really pretty," Michael commented, making Lily blush red.

"Thanks. Do you mind if I meet my friends for a sec before we go?" Michael shook his head.

As she approached the Mauraders and Caitlyn, she saw Sirius nudge James playfully, pointing to Lily. Ignoring it, she started to wave to them.

"Hey guys! Where are your dates, Sirius, James? How do I look? Is it a too overdone?" Lily asked, anxious.

"Lily, you look gorgeous. I mean after all, you have too, I picked the outfit!" Caitlyn teased.

Remus smiled and said she looked beautiful, Peter managed to stutter out his compliments while Sirius just whistled and said 'Damn...that's hot Evans!"

James, still sort of speechless, gave a weak smile and muttered "Yeh, everything they said."

Lily grinned and waved them goodbye as she turned around and walked off.

*************

James promised himself he'd try to have a good time today. Penny, his date, was everything he looked for in a girl. She was smart, kind, good-looking and fun to be around. So then why did he keep on thinking about Lily?

"James, James!" Penny clicked her fingers in front of him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"What's up James? You've been really quiet the whole date. Is something bothering you?"

James put up a fake smile and shook his head. "No, just a little distracted, sorry. Let's head towards The Three Broomsticks," he suggested.

As they made their way in the pub, James noticed Michael and Lily coming out of Honeydukes, laughing with hands sort of entwined. He frowned but followed Penny in.

Sirius and his date, Melanie, were already there, flirting with each other. James and Penny sat next to them and ordered their butterbeers.

"So have you seen Moony, Wormtail or Caitlyn anywhere?" James asked Sirius, sipping his butterbeer. Sirius shook his head, giving Melanie a flirtatious smile.

Penny rolled her eyes at Sirius and picked up a conversation with James, although she couldn't that however much she tried to interest him, his mind seemed to be elsewhere.

'He's probably thinking about Lily," Penny sighed and thought, knowing well of how much her date liked the Head Girl. She sipped her butterbeer, only to see James' face snap to the doorway, when a couple were coming in.

It was Lily and Michael; Michael had his arm around Lily, feeling much more confident now, and Lily had a radiant smile on her face.

'Clearly she seems to be enjoying her date,' James thought bitterly as Sirius waved them over.

Lily looked unsure, wanting a more private setting for the date, but reluctantly obliged when Michael started walking towards the table.

"Oh dear. Knowing Sirius and James, they'll have Michael scared off within a few minutes. And just when the date was going so well," Lily thought as she sat down opposite Penny. She gave Penny a brief smile but frowned, when Penny glanced down and looked at her sadly. Then she turned away and gave a fake smile at everyone.

'What's all that about?' Lily wondered as she looked at James, 'Why does James look so bitter? What happened with their date?'

"So Lily, how's the date gone so far?" Melanie giggled annoyingly.

"Umm it's been...," Lily started off, smiling at Michael, "Great! We went to Honeydukes, Zonkos, managed to stay out of the Quidditch shop and," at this Lily giggled, "I suggested Michael to go into Madame Puddifoot's and hahahaha, his face! You should have seen his face! It was priceless!"

Michael blushed but Lily just gave him a quick kiss on the cheek while Sirius, Melanie and Penny fell about laughing. James just frowned again, catching Sirius' eye (a threatening one) then attempting to smile for Lily.

Lily, seeing this attempt, (knowing that James was upset) gave him a wide, warm smile before turning again to face the group. James lightened up, grinning now.

Penny, seeing all this, shook her head. 'Lily likes James. James loves Lily. For God's sake, why don't the two just get together! You can see just how much he adores her, how he won't give any other girl the time of the day; get your head straight Lily!' she thought to herself, not disappointed anymore about her own date.

************

"So Prongs, I see your date with Penny didn't go really well. What happened? Maybe something to do with Evans?" Sirius asked, teasing. James frowned.

"It just didn't feel right. I mean Penny's a great girl, it's just...I don't know, maybe Diggory and Lily together," James said, his voice becoming quieter as he finished off.

Sirius grinned and punches his best friend in the arm.

"Jealous, huh?" he teased.

James just grinned and just sent a silencing charm Sirius' way. It would probably be a long time before someone took the spell of Sirius.

************

As James stepped inside the common room of the Head's Quarters and looked up, only to see a sight he wished he never saw.

It made his blood freeze, body go stiff and worst of all, it made his heart shatter in to pieces.

Right infront of him, were Lily, the girl he loved, and Michael, making out against the wall.

***********

Awww.....poor James D:

So....do you guys like the story so far? Hope so, cuz this is my first fanfic so I'm pretty excited. Please give me some reviews....I wanna know what I should do next or what ideas you guys would like to be written up.

Thanks,

Vanillaberries


	5. Chapter 5: Shock, Anger and Kisses

Would you take a step forward?

Last time, Lily got asked out on a Hogsmeade date by Michael Diggory. James' date isn't going so well, partly because his mind is occupied with Lily. When he enters the Head common room, what does he see but Michael and Lily kissing.

Chapter 5:

*************

Lily and Michael quickly broke apart, hearing footsteps come in through the door.

Seeing it was James, Lily started to say something, "James we were just-," but he interrupted her with a cold voice, "Your personal life is none of my business Lily. Goodnight Diggory, Lily." as he nodded and stormed into his room.

Lily, frowned, looking at James the whole time. She couldn't help but notice the hurt, betrayed look his eyes when he came in through the door. "Your personal life is none of my business Lily." he had said, but hadn't he liked her for the past seven years? Lily furrowed her eyebrows, thoroughly confused.

Michael touched her arm gently, breaking her out of her reverie; he was blushing, she realized. He muttered a 'goodnight' and gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek, before hurrying out of the Head Common Room.

Lily stood there for a moment, before shaking her head and entering her room. 'What happened to James?' she wondered.

*************

The moment James entered his room, he kicked the wall with all his might and started swearing under his breath. After he had calmed down slightly, he sat down on his bed, head in hands.

'Why is Lily going out with Michael? He doesn't deserve her!' he thought.

'Ah, but he does. He knows how to treat a lady, would never hurt Lily and is a good guy overall. You know it...' a voice went, inside of him.

He groaned, laying flat on his bed, looking up to the ceiling; ironically, the ceiling had been charmed so that it had been replaced with a moving picture of Lily, smiling. To James, it was one of the most beautiful sights in the world, and he sighed, looking at it.

He remembered the first time he asked Lily out, the first time she rejected him.

*Flashback*

Two best friends, a redhead and brunette, step out of a Defence against Dark Arts classroom, chatting and giggling together.

A few metres behind, four boys are laughing together, thinking of new pranks they can come up with. The redhead, Lily, looks behind and gives one of them a glare, as if to say 'You better not be thinking of another prank Potter!'

James ruffles his untidy black hair and smirks at Lily; he was going to do it now. Sirius watches, amused, as his best friend walks towards Lily, his head held high. Sirius snorts and shakes his head; he knows this is going to end in disaster.

Lily turns around, feeling a tap on her shoulder. Seeing James, she immediately frowns and says irritably, "What is it Potter?"

James smiles sweetly, making some watching girls sigh, and produces a rose from behind his back. He looks into Lily's eyes deeply, making her blush, and clears his throat.

"Evans, I've always thought you were amazing since the time I met you. Will you go out with me?" he said, still staring into her eyes.

Lily, shocked, slaps James on the cheek and hisses, "The day I go out with you Potter, is the day hell freezes over," and with that, she marches off towards her next class with Cailtyn.

James puts a hand up to his cheek, speechless. Lily, sweet Lily, had slapped him! James grins once more. "If Lily is playing hard to get, then so be it. After all, two can play at a game!" he decides and returns to his friends, who are in hystericals, laughing at his failure.

Meanwhile with Lily, she has calmed down but is wistfully thinking of those eyes that she had stared into, just moments ago. She couldn't help but wish that she could look into those pools of hazel (with flecks of gold, green and so many more colours) once again.

*End of flashback*

After that, there had been so many more rejections. And every year, on Valentines Day, James would plan something so absurd yet unbelievably sweet for her, but she hardly acknowledged it. In fact, each year, Lily would throw out the bunch of roses that he'd sent her, out of the window.

This year, he hoped everything would change; but Lily had made a deal that he couldn't ask her out, added to the fact that it would spoil everything he had tried to build with her: trust, honesty and most importantly, friendship. James didn't want to throw all that away with one question.

'Ah! But that one question could mean a lot James,' the voices inside of him started. James sighed and closed his, drifting off to sleep.

******************

Lily woke up abruptly, quickly getting dressed to go down to the Great Hall. She was dying to tell Caitlyn everything; about her date, the kiss, Michael and James. She was in such a rush that she bumped into none other than Severus Snape.

He mumbled something and hurried off around the closest corner. Lily carried on until she reached the Gryffindor table; Caitlyn was sitting with the Marauders (they usually did now) when Lily sat down on a seat next to her, starting to say all sorts of things in a rush before Caitlyn stopped her.

"Lily, I can't understand a word you're saying! Start again, I want to hear all of it!" she exclaimed.

Lily retold what happened on her date, how sweet Michael was and how they had their first kiss inside the common room. By the time she had finished, she was blushing a deep red and was waiting for her best friend's answer.

Caitlyn squealed and took Lily's hands in hers and started laughing. "Aww Lily, I'm so happy for you! Michael seems like a great guy!" she gushed, then looking at Lily, only to see her best friend slightly frown. Lily was looking across to where James was sitting and had a worried look on her face.

"Lily, what happened? Why are you looking at James like that?" she asked, curious.

Lily shook her head and said "When I told you that me and Michael kissed in the common room...it wasn't all that. James came in through the door too and he seemed quite hurt when I looked at him. I thought when we became friends, he had stopped liking me. I don't know what to do," she confessed quietly.

Caitlyn shook her head and thought as Lily left the hall, 'You stupid girl Lily. James can never stop liking you; the boy's in love with you Lily! Oh poor James,' as she looked on towards the Marauders.

*******************

James was avoiding Lily; she was sure of it. Everytime she'd enter the Heads' common room and he'd be there, he would quickly get up and go inside his room. All they talked about was their Head duties and any work in class that was necessary. Finally, after a week, Lily stormed up to his room, gave a loud knock – but since there was no answer, she went in, annoyed and quite angry. Except when she entered, her emotions totally changed.

There was James, shirtless, in just a towel round his waist. Drops of water were trickled down his muscled chest and a six-pack was definitely very clear to Lily. He looked quite shocked to see Lily there and a smirk was tugging at his lips but he simply held no expression. Lily blushed as red as her hair; James Potter was soooo fit! She cleared her throat and tried to look at the floor, avoiding him.

"Uh I needed to speak to you but I guess I'll just wait until you're changed." she said before hurrying out. James glanced at her before smirking. Was Lily embarrassed?!

He didn't bother to find out; after he had changed, he exited, ruffling his messy hair. Lily snapped her head up and stared at him. She used to hate it when he did that but now, she even seemed to find his hair quite sexy.

"Concentrate Lily! You've come here to ask him why the hell he's ignoring you! Plus you've got a boyfriend!" she told herself strictly.

"So what did you want Evans?" James asked, sitting down on the sofa. Lily looked taken aback; after weeks of calling her 'Lily', the familiar name 'Evans' seemed cold on his lips.

"Uh yeah, I need to ask you something," she said, gaining confidence and volume too, "Why the hell have you been ignoring me this week James?" she finished off, angry.

James looked around, not meeting her eyes. "Ignoring? Who's been ignoring, Evans?" he said innocently. Lily gritted her teeth and pointed her wand at James; his eyes widened at this, thoroughly shocked.

"Don't bloody play games with me James! You either tell me now or I hex you into next week!" she said threateningly. (lol..i don't know if that's a word :P)

James sighed and gave up. "Alright, I'll tell you. But you have to promise me you won't get mad at me," he said. Lily visibly relaxed but still looked worried.

"Lily, when we agreed to be friends, I never stopped lo- liking you," James corrected himself quickly but Lily didn't notice; her eyes were wide open as he continued, "So when you went to Hogsmeade with Michael and then I found you two kissing here, it, it hurt me," James finished off quietly.

Lily gasped and covered her open mouth with her hand; she couldn't believe it, James was actually admitting that he still liked her! She stuttered, "Uh, umm I need time to think about all this James," and with this, she turned around to leave the room but James gently grabbed her hand and turned her around to face him. He stroked her cheek softly before singing with a sad smile,

"Wherever you go

Whatever you do

I will be right here waiting for you

Whatever it takes

Or how my heart breaks

I will be right here waiting for you"

(Right here waiting by Richard Marx- my mums in love with it :P)

Then Lily felt a slight tear roll down her cheek as she heard James whisper in her ear, "If you're asking that I leave you Lily, the answer is never." And with that, James leaned down and gave her a sweet yet passionate kiss; Lily had kissed quite a few boys but none like James. She lay still for a moment before putting her arms around his neck and kissing him back. James was shocked, was Lily Evans really kissing him?

Only, a few moments later, Lily pulled back and stared at James hard, shocked, before whispering, "I've got a boyfriend James, I like him. I can't do this, I'm sorry," and then she ran out of the Heads' Quarters, slamming the portrait hole behind her.

James groaned and touched his hand to his lips; it had felt so good, so right. What was wrong with Lily? Didn't she feel the spark too? He kicked the wall, annoyed, then went into his room and banged the door shut.

*******************

Lately, Caitlyn had been spending quite a lot of time with Sirius (and Remus I guess). With Lily still quite occupied with Michael, James, off on his duties and Remus, with his work and new crush, Alexia, Caitlyn was left with Sirius. (Peter is hardly ever with them now) True, she had hated Sirius ever since second year, but she was starting to really enjoy his company, especially his humour.

So it wasn't a surprise when Lily ran into Sirius and Caitlyn walking together near the lake, laughing loudly. Caitlyn noticed her first; Lily was sitting under the tree, her head in her hands, clearly thinking about something. Caitlyn dragged Sirius towards Lily, much to his protests. When he saw Lily, his mouth formed an 'O' as Caitlyn sat down next to her best friend.

"A penny for your thoughts Lily?" Caitlyn gave her soft smile as she put her arms round Lily. Her best friend looked up at her, a slight tear down her cheek. Caitlyn frowned, immediately concerned over who had hurt Lily. She called Sirius and told him to go up to the castle and that she'd meet him at dinner.

Then she forced Lily to spill everything: James, her confrontation, his confession, the kiss....

By the time Lily had finished telling the story; Caitlyn's mouth was gaping open.

"Lily! You just left the poor boy standing there?! I can't believe James would say all those things! They're soooo romantic and sweet....you're soo lucky Lily!" Caitlyn gushed, before noticing something was wrong with Lily. "Lily! What happened love? Why are you so sad?! You should be happy!" she exclaimed.

This made Lily even more depressed. "But I'm going out with Michael, Caitlyn!" she managed to force out, "And you know what the worst part is?! The worst part is that I liked it, I enjoyed that kiss! And I've got a boyfriend!" she moaned, hitting her head softly.

Caitlyn grabbed her wrists. "Lily. Lily! Look at me Lily! So what if you enjoyed that kiss?! It just shows that you do have feelings for James, atleast more than you do for Michael! Come on. You know what, you're going to sleep in the girls' dorms tonight. We're going to have a fun girlie night!" she exclaimed, pulling Lily up and dragging her to the castle, evidently trying to cheer her up.

****************

Although Caitlyn had tried a lot to get Lily to come down to dinner, the redhead had just simple refused. 'That's one thing that Lily and James have in common...they're so unbelievably stubborn' she thought to herself.

When she went down to the Great Hall, she saw the Marauders already seated in their usual places. Sirius' eyes lit up when he saw her and he screamed to her to 'get her ass here'. Caitlyn blushed; Sirius Black was mad! She noticed, when she sat down, that James looked a little more subdued tonight and even his hazel eyes looked slightly dull.

"So wheff Livy Plower?" Sirius asked, his mouth stuffed full of food. At this question, James too, looked at Caitlyn with a puzzled expression.

"Uh.." Caitlyn struggled for an answer, "She was feeling slightly sick so she said she'd rest for a while," and with that, she gave them a fake smile.

Sirius seemed convinced (he was absorbed in his bacon :D) and James winced, his face immdediately displaying the guilt that he felt for causing her these problems. But Remus knew that Caitlyn was lying. He looked at her, eyes narrowed in suspicion, as she gave everyone a fake smile, but dropped it – he trusted Lily, she probably had her reasons for not coming down to dinner.

**************

After dinner, James immediately headed towards the boys' dorms, where he was going to sleep tonight; except he didn't get there as fast as he thought. A pair of hands grabbed on the back of his shirt and pulled him into an empty classroom. He gave a loud yell before one of the hands cast a silencing charm on him. It was Caitlyn.

"What was that for?" she said irritably, as she undid the spell on him. He glanced at her, confused. "Why have you dragged me into an empty classroom, Caitlyn?" James said, before his eyes opened wide, "No! You wouldn't! Uh Caitlyn, I'm in love with your best friend, remember?!" as he waved a hand in front of her.

Caitlyn glared at him and said, "I didn't drag you here to make out with you James! I came here 'cause I needed to talk to you about Lily!" James relaxed and sighed, before saying,

"What? That I shouldn't have kissed her 'cause she's got a boyfriend?! You know what Caitlyn, just save me the lecture! I don't want to hear any of it!" he yelled, now feeling angry.

Caitlyn, her glares becoming even more deadly by the second, screamed back, "If you just listen to me James, you'll know what I have to say!" , then she lowered her volume and said, exasperated, "James, Lily is upset because she's confused. I'd be lying if I said she didn't like Michael but she does have feelings for you. She just doesn't want to show them!"

James listened to her, a little more hopeful, before his happy bubble deflated yet again.

"Well, how do you know?!" he asked, dejected.

Caitlyn snorted and said, "Well, she kissed you, didn't she?" and with that, she left the classroom, arms crossed.

***************

When James finally reached the boys' dorms, his best friends were waiting there for him, eyebrows raised. Sirius was the first one to tease him.

"Now Prongs, what's all this we here about you and Lily Flower together?" he smirked but then pouted with puppy dog eyes and whined dramatically, "I can't believe you didn't tell us first, Prongs. Especially me!"

"Alright, alright I'll tell you!" as he retold the events of the day. By the time he finished everything, Sirius was smirking proudly.

"Go Prongs! Hahaha...how did it feel mate?" he asked, curious. James smile and continued,

"It was amazing! For those few seconds that we were kissing, it felt like, like heaven," he sighed content. Sirius gave a broad smile; it wasn't every day that your best friend/brother got the girl of their dreams to kiss them when they wouldn't give them a second look for 7 years.

"But now everything's ruined. She won't trust me anymore...she's got a boyfriend! What was I thinking?!" James groaned, pulling the covers over his head.

*****************

Things were no better in the girls' dorms. Caitlyn was braiding Lily's hair while Lily sat quietly, hardly talking. Caitlyn, clearly fed up, said irritably, "Lily Evans! Get a hold of yourself! It's not the end of the world! Just choose: Michael or James?!"

Lily snapped her head up at this question, slightly afraid at what her answer would be.

'What if I chose James?' she thought.

'He would treat you well, that's for sure' The voices started again but for once, Lily didn't mind.

'He is an amazing kisser...you said yourself'

'Think about it Lily...you and James together'

'But then again...what if I chose Michael?' she thought again.

'Michael is sweet....and he does care a lot about you'

'You know that he won't cheat on you...you can trust him more'

Lily sighed, thinking over her choices, then she gave Caitlyn a soft smile. "You know what? I've just made up my mind. I like Michael a lot, wheras with James...I just don't see him in that way." she ended, feeling quite sure about her answer.

Caitlyn sighed; 'Lily just isn't facing facts' she thought sadly as she fake smiled at her best friend and changed the topic.

The rest of the night got better: Lily had cheered up and the two girls were now giggling together over the many things they discussed.

**************

What the Marauders (and Lily and Caitlyn) didn't know was that when Caitlyn had talked (or screamed :D) at James in the empty classroom, someone was standing right outside the door, listening to their whole conversation. Rachel Roberts, who was infatuated with James, grinned evilly as she started planning how to spread the word that JAMES POTTER and LILY EVANS, the Head students, had made out.

Especially since Lily had a boyfriend.

**************

Oooooooh cliffy!! XD

This is officially my favourite chapter....I love making James so sweet and sensitive when it comes to Lily. =D

Sorry for the wait...hope you like the chapter! I tried to make it longer....

And pls pls pls pls pls pls pls guys review....I really wanna no how its doin!! Quite a few ppl have added this story to their favourites but pls review =D

Thanx,

Vanillaberries


	6. Chapter 6: Deaths, Apologies and Comfort

Would you take a step forward?

Okay so I hope you liked the last chapter...a lot of drama :D

Tell me if you have some ideas for where you think the story should go :P

I've been thinking who 2 pair Sirius up with....maybe you'll see a leetle action there ;)

Chapter 6

****************

The next morning, when Lily went down to the Great Hall, she was shocked to find her boyfriend leading her out again to 'talk' to her. Girls had already given her glares but Lily just couldn't understand why.

Michael took her into an empty hallway and sighed before saying, "Lily, this morning, I heard some news. Apparently you kissed James last night. Is that true Lily? Do you have feelings for Potter?"

Lily, during the whole time that he spoke, had turned white; how had people come to know? It happened in the Heads' common room and the only people that knew were the Marauders and Caitlyn. "Uh Michael" she started off stuttering, but then cleared her throat and started off again, "Michael, James kissed me. We had a little fight but I told him it just couldn't be. After all, I'm going out with you" she ended off smiling.

Michael stared at her suspiciously then grinned and gave her a tight hug; he gave her a soft kiss and took her to the Great Hall to have breakfast. When Caitlyn waved Lily over, her best friend just shook her head and mouthed 'sorry' before sitting down at the Ravenclaw table with Michael. Caitlyn just shook her head and thought, 'What on earth are you doing Lils? You have the chance to be with James!'

James watched every single movement of Lily's; from the time when she sat down, to the occasional kisses she would share with Michael. Jealousy took over him every time he would see Michael touch her, or stroke her hair.

"Hey James, when's the next practice?" Colin Wood yelled from the other side of the table.

James was Quidditch captain for Gryffindor and he was making his team work really hard; after all, it was his last year. James grinned and screamed back,"Early morning tomorrow, Wood!" Hearing this, Caitlyn groaned and James winked at her, saying "Best have an early night, Ryans!" and with this, he strode out of the hall, leaving Sirius to smirk at Caitlyn.

***************

James worked the team especially hard the next morning; he really wanted to win this year. True, he had been captain for 3 years (counting this one) but he wanted this year to be memorable. After practice, the grumbling team headed to the castle to eat the breakfast they were so longing. But James stayed behind to practice some more of his chaser skills; after all he had a lot to think about. (eg. planning, placing)

As he kicked off from the ground towards one of the goal hoops, he felt another person's presence behind him. He looked behind, over his shoulder, only to see the one person he didn't want to talk to. Michael Diggory.

"Hey! Wait up!" Michael said before James slowed down slightly, "Uh, you mind if we take this to the ground?" as he flashed a grin at James. James shrugged, not coldly, and raced down at a spectacular speed. A few seconds later, Michael reached him.

"Woh! You fly well Potter!" Michael exclaimed before continuing, "Look, I don't know if you've heard the rumours but apparently you kissed my girlfriend." James drew a sharp breath of air in before shrugging yet again. "So?" he said.

"I talked to Lily about this and she said you kissed her. Look Potter, I know you two are good friends and all, but just try not to hit on Lily. You know, I've waited 6 months to ask her out and she's finally said yes," Michael explained and continued, "Anyways, good luck with the game tomorrow Potter, I do hope you win against Slytherin."

And with that, Michael clutched his broom, gave James a nod, and walked off the field. James just sighed, ruffling his messy hair.

'There's nothing you can do James. He just got there first." he thought sadly as he too walked off the Quidditch pitch.

******************

When Sirius entered the Gryffindor common room, the last thing he expected to see, was one his friends, sitting near the fireplace, tears rolling down their cheeks.

Caitlyn was clutching a letter in her hand, muffled sobs coming out of her mouth as she stared into the fire. Sirius frowned and immediately was at her side, arms around her, soothing her.

"What happened Caitlyn? What's the letter about? Did someone hurt you?" he asked, concern and a hint of panic in his voice. Caitlyn shook her head and shoved the letter into his hands.

By the time Sirius had read it, his eyes were wide open with shock.

"Come here, come here. It's okay, he's going to be fine. Nothing's going to happen to him, don't worry," he tried to comfort her but Caitlyn just burst into another bout of tears.

"But they got him killed! And now they've got Adam all bruised and broken in St Mungo's! How dare they!" Caitlyn screamed, getting angry, "How dare they do that to him! He's innocent! He doesn't even deserve all this!"

"Ssshhh. It's ok. It's ok. Atleast they didn't get him," Sirius said as he calmed Caitlyn down. He stroked her cheek comfortingly as she stared into his eyes, startled and full of fear. Sirius leaned down slowly, their noses touching, then Caitlyn licked her lips and just as their lips touched with a kiss, the portrait hole door opened and in came Remus with his crush, Alexia. Sirius and Caitlyn quickly jumped apart, seeing the pair, and Sirius left the common room quietly, leaving Remus to wonder just what had gone on between them. Caitlyn just ran up to the girls' dorms.

*****************

Lily and James were patrolling when Sirius found them. Things had become a lot more awkward between them. Wheras before, they would joke and poke fun at each other, now they struggled to make good conversation.

When Sirius saw them, he cried out in delight and ran up to them. "Caitlyn-Lily-huh-you-get-up-upset-father," he managed to pant out, exhausted from running all over. Lily, immediately stiffened up after hearing the words, 'Caitlyn' and 'upset'. She shook Sirius' shoulders hard, demanding where Caitlyn was, then she ran in the direction of the Gryffindor tower.

"Padfoot, what happened?" James asked, worried. Sirius, finally getting his breath back, said, "Caitlyn got a letter today. Her house was attacked by Death Eaters. Her dad was killed and her brother was tortured, but he survived because some aurors came in the way."

James gritted his teeth, thinking of Caitlyn's loss. 'Damn those death eaters and damn you Voldemort' he muttered under his breath.

******************

When Lily finally reached the girls' dorms, she found a devastated Caitlyn in the corner of the room. She immediately put her arms round her best friend's shoulders and comforted her.

"What happened? Sirius came and told me you were upset? What's the letter about Caitlyn" Lily asked, deeply concerned after seeing a Ministry paper on Caitlyn's bed.

"My house got att-attacked by Death Ea-Eaters," Caitlyn sobbed as Lily gasped, "Adam was tortured but was saved by the Aurors but-but my dad was killed!" Lily felt her eyes watering up as she thought about Mr Ryans and his great personality. She soothed Caitlyn as she thought angrily, 'The day I become an auror, I'm gonna blast off those death eaters' heads!'

After a few minutes of crying and comforting, Lily noticed Sirius in the doorway. He had his eyes fixed on Caitlyn as tears fell down her cheeks rapidly; he looked extremely worried. He took a few steps forward, knelt in front of Caitlyn, and told her quietly that Dumbledore wanted to meet her.

Caitlyn's head snapped up as she looked into Sirius' eyes briefly then got up and walked out of the door.

Sirius sighed and said, "It isn't fair that she had to lose her dad this way. And her brother's only 13! He just started learning magic at Beauxbotons and now he's in St Mungo's." Lily nodded and wiped a tear that had trickled down her cheek. She had known Adam really well since she had gone to stay at Caitlyn's house once over the summer and they bonded immediately.

As Sirius and Lily made their way down to the common room, they found James sitting on the sofa, deep in thought. Sirius looked at them both, smiled a little bit, then muttered goodbye and ran off to his dorm. Lily froze, seeing James, as he cleared his throat and looked at her awkwardly. She finally sat down on the sofa, her legs and feet curled up.

"Is Caitlyn alright?" James asked, anxious to hear about his good friend. Lily looked slightly take aback; she didn't think he was talking to her.

"Well, what do you think? Her dad just died and her brother's in St. Mungo's after being tortured; do you think she's alright?!" Lily snapped, her emotions getting the better of her. But when she saw James wincing at the cold tone, she softened and said, "She's gone to meet Dumbledore. I think she's a bit better now."

Saying this, Lily stood up and started to leave, when James caught her wrist gently. He stood up too and came slightly closer to her.

'Don't try anything on her James, she's got a boyfriend. You've anyways messed up everything' he said to himself silently then out loud to Lily, said, "I'm sorry Lily. I shouldn't have kissed you, I just couldn't control myself. You've got a boyfriend and-and" but he was interrupted when Lily gave him a soft smile and said,

"It's alright. Michael and me didn't break up or anything. Just don't try it again Potter," she said jokingly, "I might just hex you!"

James smiled as he pulled Lily into a hug; he had missed talking to her, joking, having fun with her – he was just glad to have her friendship. But he couldn't help notice how perfectly she fit into his arms as they hugged.

*****************

When Sirius was walking towards Dumbledore's office, where he planned to meet Caitlyn, he was stopped on the way by Ivy Smith. She was a total slut; the way she walked, talked, dressed. And the worst part was: she was plain obsessed with Sirius. Whenever Sirius went out with a girl (only short periods of time) she would find some or other way to break them up.

So it wasn't a surprise that when she came across Sirius in the hallway, she instantly hit on him. She walked up to him, batting her eyelashes, and put her hand on his arm gently before saying, "Sirius, how about me and you, in a broom closet together?" she said, smiling coyly. Then she grabbed Sirius by the neck, pulled him forwards, and kissed him fiercely.

Sirius' eyes opened wide, before his attraction to her led him to close his eyes, place his hands on her hips and kiss her back with full strength. As they were making out full force against the wall, a certain girl was turning round the corner into the alleyway. She had brown hair, chocolate eyes but the emotions on her face displayed sadness, loneliness and insecurity. Then she looked up and her eyes nearly popped out as she saw Sirius and Ivy kissing against the wall. It was Caitlyn.

She let out a soft sob and turned around quickly, before running as fast as she could, away from the couple. She just couldn't bear the sight.

It was too late when Sirius finally realized she had run away. He just saw her retreating figure before pulling apart from Ivy. "What's wrong baby?" she asked, stroking his cheek. He ran a few steps forward frantically, looking round the corner for Caitlyn, before he turned round, and grabbed Ivy, pulling her into another kiss.

***************

After Lily left James, she walked to the library, where she found Remus and Alexia, sitting close together and reading a book. She smiled and walked over to them.

"Mind if I interrupt?" she said, putting her books down. Both Remus and Alexia shook their heads and smiled at Lily, then carried on with their work, with the occasional chatter. This comfortable silence carried on for quite a while before Alexia broke it, saying,

"So Lily, I hear you're going out with Michael Diggory. Well, all I can say is, he's definitely sweet and such a good looker!" she giggled as Remus frowned, then laughed too as she punches his arm playfully.

Lily grinned at the closeness between the two; she was glad that Remus had found someone who liked him for who he was, not just a Marauder. He needed someone that would love him apart from his friends. Lily had found out about Remus' lycanthropy in fifth year, when she heard strange howling sounds from the Shrieking Shack.

*Flashback*

Lily is sitting in her dorm, doing her History of Magic essay. She yawns but stops suddenly when she hears strange noises coming from outside the tower. She runs to the window and peeks through the window, only to see 2 large animals running after a larger animal. She could make out that one was a large black dog; 'What's a dog doing on the grounds of Hogwarts?' Lily thinks to herself. Then she sees a human figure in the background. A human! Lily's eyes grow wide.

And then she sees a dazzling sight. It looks like a stag, but not at all an ordinary one. It looks silver with large flecks of gold and huge antlers. It was tall and was running after another shadowy figure in the trees. She had never seen a stag like that before!

She runs down the tower, onto the grounds, although she knows she's not supposed to be out of the castle. A cold air surrounds her as she shivers slightly; now she wishes Caitlyn is with her.

Then suddenly she hears a loud rumble behind her as she turns around. Her eyes open wide as she comes face to face with a large, black, hairy animal. It bore many teeth and quite large ears. It howls and slowly advances towards Lily. It was a werewolf; it was Remus. Then it pounces.

***************

James, attacked by Remus, lies on the floor in his animagus form, a stag. Sirius sees him and woofs, immediately running over to see his best friend. He sniffs and changes quickly into his human form, examining James' wounds. James groans and turns his head to the left. His eyes nearly pop out when he sees a wave of red hair behind a werewolf. He mumbles something, staggers to get up but hobbles quickly over in Lily's direction.

Sirius looks over to where James is heading and sees Remus, in werewolf form, advancing to a certain redhead. He transforms yet again and runs towards Lily, James just slightly ahead of him. Just as Lily turns round and screams, James jumps in front of her, taking her to the floor. Sirius, on the other hand, attacks Remus, fighting with his giant paws.

Lily looks at the stag, the one she just admired from the window, which saved her. She looked into his eyes, a confused expression taking over her face. Those eyes, those hazel eyes....she had seem them somewhere before, they were so familiar.

James, suddenly snapping out of his trance, realizes he can't get Lily away in his animagus form. He realizes then that there's no other way but to reveal his secret. So he transforms back as Lily suddenly realize what's happening. Those eyes....ofcourse they seemed familiar; they were James' eyes!

He grabs her hand and leads her through a quick way out while Sirius still battles Remus. Peter, the rat, is knowing at Remus' feet to distract him.

When Lily and James reach the castle, James collapses in a heap against the wall. He's just saved Snape and then to see Lily in such a dangerous position worried him. When Sirius finally reaches the castle, Lily goes to him and gives him a slap on the face. James has told her about Sirius' plan to get revenge on Snape and making him face Remus.

Sirius looks shocked but then turns to face James, who has a tired but hard, stony expression on his face. He glares at Sirius then goes up to him and punches him hard on the harm. He glares yet again but drops his hard look and mutters a few words to Sirius.

Sirius nods quickly, mostly out of fear, and proceeds towards the boys' dorms. That leaves James and Lily together. Lily glances at James, only to find herself having a second look.

James' shirt is ripped and extremely dirty, showing off his muscled but wounded chest. Huge scratches have quite a lot of blood pouring out of them; on James' arms, chest and a few on the legs even. He tries to stand up but slumps back down.

'He needs serious medical help' Lily thinks as she looks over him again. Then she gets an idea. She tells James that she can heal him since she's taken a few healing classes before; he wearily agrees and she sets to work, healing his wounds.

James looks at her while she's fixing everything. Her eyes are hard with determination and her red hair looks even more beautiful to him than ever. When she finishes, she helps James get up and helps him to his dorm. 'That's the least I can do,' she thinks to herself.

Then suddenly, James comes up to her wearily and gives her a tight, emotional hug. She fails to understand this motive so she slightly puts her arms around him as well. He pulls back and says, "Don't ever do that again to me Lily," as he walks off slowly.

Lily is shocked. First, she has let James Potter give her a hug and even sort of responded! Second, he saved her at the risk of his own life. Third, he called her Lily. She stares after him, wondering what had happened to the arrogant, self-centered jerk she thought he was.

*End of Flashback*

But just as she thought that James Potter was starting to change his ways, he was back to his cocky ways just the next day. Lily sighed; how much he had changed since the last six years. She didn't even think it was possible for him to be so caring and mature.

****************

James was sitting near the pond with a few people around too; he gazed into the water, thinking, yet again, about Lily. She was so beautiful yet she wasn't even his. 'I'm never going to go out with Lily; maybe it's just better I move on with my life," he thought to himself. And that's when he spotted Penny, his Hogsmeade date.

She was sitting with a couple of her friends, laughing together as one of them retold a story. James looked at her carefully, observing her attractive features.

'She's tall and slim,' he thought, 'and she's really quite pretty. She's got nice blue eyes and a cute smile too. She plays quidditch and likes to have a good laugh. James Potter, I think you've just found the perfect girl,' he smirked as he made his way over to the group of girls.

Penny saw him advancing and smiled, giving him a confused look. He just grinned at her and extended his hand out.

(James in bold, Penny in normal)

"**Good afternoon ladies. Penny, join me for a walk?" he asked her.**

"Sure. Bye guys, I'll see you later," she said, winking at her friends.

"**So, you know how you were my date for Hogsmeade and the whole thing didn't really go well? Well, I'm so sorry about all that...I had other things on my mind. I should have been paying more attention to you."**

"No, that's fine, really. I'm sure you had something really important on your mind" she said, as they walked in similar pace.

"**Yeh, well I was thinking that maybe, um, you'd like to go out with me**?" he flashed her a cheeky grin. She gave a wide smile and said,

"Yeh, I'd really like that. So, James, what do you want to do know?" James grinned coyly and grabbed her really close, "**How about...I give you a kiss?"**

And with that, he crashed his lips down on hers, their arms around each other, as many people looked on. 'She's a good kisser too,' James noted as he came up for air, then pulled her in again. Many guys were wolf-whistling but most of the girls were giving death glares at Penny.

*******************

Lily hummed as she strolled across the grounds of Hogwarts, looking for no one in particular. Then she saw a group of people huddled around nearby the pond, some yelling, some wolf-whistling and some girls looking quite angry. She looked on curiously as she walked towards the group quickly.

No one payed her attention as she pulled through the crowd, saying 'Excuse-me' every second or so. Then she met with a sight that internally (even though she didn't know it) made her stomach flip with jealousy and most importantly, her heart slowly break.

Because there, right in front of her, was James, his arms wrapped around a tall brunette, as they made out in front of everyone. 'They seem to be enjoying themselves' Lily thought bitterly as she watched the brunette, who she realized was Penny, twist her hands in James' messy hair. Lily felt a small twinge of jealousy within her as she watched James and Penny kissing, but she brushed it away.

Then her eyes widened as James turned around and pulled away, blushing, before he noticed Lily in the crowd, her mouth open. He grinned at her, not realizing she was slightly upset, before she gave him the cold shoulder, and walked off, leaving James slightly confused.

******************

Ooooooh....jealous Lily!! Hahaha....I love seeing Lily fall for James and then get jealous nd everything :D

Okay, so I decided to include a little Sirius/Caitlyn action here...I mean I know it's not much but it's a start. Hope you liked the chapter, will upload another one soon. Maybe in a day or two. Depends :P

Btw....pls pls pls review on the story. Thanx Colie21...my first reviewer :D

Thanx,

Vanillaberries


	7. Chapter 7: Letters and Silence

Would you take a step forward?

Hey guys :D

I hope you liked the last two chapters...filled with lots of drama :P

Oh n btw...thanx perdyprincess :D

Chapter 7

******************

Lily and Caitlyn both found each other in the Gryffindor girls' dorms; Caitlyn looked hurt and upset (with slight tears rolling down her cheeks) while Lily had a hard expression on her face. But when she saw her best friend sitting on the bed, crying, she immediately was by her side, asking her what had happened now.

So Caitlyn spilled about everything; how Sirius came to comfort her, how they almost kissed, how she was starting to have feelings for Sirius and even how she found Sirius and Ivy Daly wrapped around each other in a hallway. Then she gave a huge cry out of all the sadness she had faced today and leaned against Lily, crying.

'Poor Caitlyn; she's had to deal with a death, injury and even the guy she likes is with someone else now. But the way Sirius looked at her...he can't be interested in Ivy Daly!' Lily thought to herself, soothing Caitlyn.

When Caitlyn finally calmed down, she asked Lily why she had such a hard face on when she came in. Lily sighed and told her James and Penny, saying,

"It's so weird; I've got a boyfriend, Caitlyn, and I really like him but then when James kissed me, I enjoyed it. And then I chose Michael over James because I like him better. But then today, when I was walking near the pond, I saw James and Penny, you know his Hogsmeade date, making out and stuff and I got this really weird feeling in the stomach. Ugh, this just so confusing!" Lily confessed, getting annoyed at herself.

Caitlyn smiled slyly and gave Lily a soft push on the arm. "Lily, are you admitting that you've got feelings for James?" as she raised her eyebrows. Internally, she was thinking more along the lines of, 'Yes, finally! It actually took you this much time to realize! Stupid Lily!'

Lily blushed and shook her head vigorously; "Of course not! James is nothing but a friend! I don't care if he's going out with Penny!" she said, sticking her head high.

Caitlyn just gave Lily a knowing smile; from the blush itself, she could tell that Lily was lying.

They sat there for the rest of the day, discussing (in more detail) what they were going to do when they visited Adam at St. Mungo's and how they would prepare the funeral for Caitlyn's father.

*******************

Sirius didn't know what had triggered him to kiss Ivy back but all he acknowledged now was that; first, he made out with Ivy, second, Caitlyn saw him (and ran off, somehow upset?) and third he was now going out with Ivy Daly.

It had just somehow happened; one second, he had was making out with her, the next he pulled back and asked her to go out with him. 'But you like Caitlyn,' a voice whispered inside of him. He brushed it aside of him; those feelings for Caitlyn had gone away last year...hadn't they?

He didn't have time to think about it because just that moment, he heard 2 people coming in through the portrait hole. It was James and Penny, with their arms round each other. Sirius flashed them a grin and said, "Hey, whatcha guys up to? Wait...are you two going out now? Nice one Prongs!"

James nodded and grinned back at Sirius, saying, "Yeh we are. I decided she was too good to let go," as he winked at Penny charmingly. Penny fell for it and immediately pulled James in for another kiss, making Sirius groan and scream "GET A ROOM!" before he ran upstairs.

And that's where Lily and Caitlyn found James and Penny when they came down for dinner. Lily raised her eyebrows as she gave Caitlyn a 'I told you so' look; Caitlyn just stared at the kissing couple and shook her head. Penny, sensing someone near, broke apart from James, her hands still around his neck. When she saw Caitlyn and especially Lily, she blushed and muttered 'goodbye' to James, giving him a final kiss, then she quickly left.

James turned to look at Lily and Caitlyn, who were standing there, looking at him.

"Oh yeah," he grinned and said, "I forgot to tell you. I'm going out with Penny now, uh I just actually asked her out an hour ago."

"No, it's okay. In fact, you guys make a really cute couple. She's nice, smart and even plays quidditch," Caitlyn winked at James and fake smiled. Lily looked at her shocked, not realizing that she had to play along. 'I thought Caitlyn said that-' but her thoughts were interrupted as Caitlyn kicked her slightly in the shin, indicating for her to add some more in.

"Oh yeah, Penny's really nice. You two, um, suit each other," Lily ended awkwardly as she too gave James a fake smile and grabbed Caitlyn's arm, walking out of the common room.

'What is with these girls? How come they just suddenly leave?' James thought, confused as he too left for the Great Hall.

****************

Caitlyn's heavy mourning continued for a few days before she and Lily left for the funeral; every night, she would cry herself to sleep, but with Lily there to comfort her, she was getting slightly better every day. She gave Sirius the silent treatment and he, realizing this awkwardness between them, too decided to ignore her.

When Lily and Caitlyn both left for the funeral, many people came to give them a hug as they left through a portkey. James gave Lily a tight hug, telling her to 'take care and be careful' as Michael gave her a sweet kiss. Sirius wanted to hug and bid goodbye to Caitlyn so badly, but he decided against it; instead, all he did was whisper 'goodbye' then looked into her eyes, and nodded at her.

As Lily and Caitlyn both clutched the portkey to be take back to Caitlyn's home in London, they both looked at Hogwarts for one last time, somehow knowing that this was just the start.

'Soon, we'll have to leave Hogwarts and face reality. We're going to see many people dying; just be strong Lily and always fight for what's right,' Lily said to herself silently as she thought of the challenges she would have to face beyond Hogwarts.

Suddenly, she found herself back in London, in a medium-sized house; a faint sobbing could be heard from the kitchen as the two best friends ran inside to investigate. It was Caitlyn's mother. She told her daughter and Lily that she had been out grocery shopping, when the Death Eaters attacked.

Lily's heart ached, hearing of the pain Mrs Ryans was going through. She couldn't imagine her grief if her own parents got killed; 'I'd be devastated,' Lily thought gravely.

*****************

Many miles away, a certain Head Boy sat perched on a window sill, wondering about Lily, Caitlyn and what his own future would bring him.

James had always wanted to be a quidditch payer but the times were such, that he dreamed to become an auror like his dad. Harold Potter was Head Auror while his wife, Olivia, worked in her husband's force. They were constantly putting themselves in danger, having imprisoned and defeated many powerful death eaters within Voldemort's inner circle.

'Will I be like that too, putting my family in danger,' James wondered, as he headed down to the Great Hall, only to find a letter for himself oh his plate. Sirius looked fairly excited to open it but he resisted; James looked over the envelope, finding Lily's handwriting on it.

He tore it open, eager to hear some news from Caitlyn and her.

_**Dear James,**_

_**I was quite willing to write to you for since I know you must be quite eager to hear from us. The funeral was full of sadness and tears (I myself was crying) yet it was undeniably beautiful – just the way Mr Ryans would have wanted it.**_

_**Caitlyn and I met Adam in St. Mungo's where he told us that the Cructatious curse and many other painful spells were used on him. We visit him every day now – we're really glad since he's making a rapid recovery.**_

_**Caitlyn is still pretty shaken up but she's getting better; every now and then she will laugh or give a smile. Mrs Ryans and I are trying our best but it's hard enough losing a parent. I hope you all are well and that we haven't missed out on much. Give Alice a hug from me since she sent me atleast 20 letters since we've been gone.**_

_**Take care,**_

_**Lily x**_

Both Remus and Peter had crowded round James by now and they all heard him when he read it outloud. Everybody's faces now showed expressions of relief, after hearing that the two girls were safe and alright. Alice too had come to hear from Lily; she had always been close friends with Lily but only acquaintances with Caitlyn.

James immediately produced a quill from his bag and started writing a reply to Lily; he missed talking and walking with her on patrol nights.

_**Dear Lily, **_(he wrote)

_**We were so relieved when you sent us a letter saying you two were alright. Alice nearly attacked me, when she heard I got a letter from you! Give Mrs Ryans our deep regrets and tell her to stay strong for the Marauders. :D**_

_**You haven't missed out on much; the Slytherins are still annoying, stuck-up brats, Ravenclaw is as smart as ever and Hufflepuff are giving serious competition for the Quidditch now. (I'm not joking here.) You'll also be glad to know that Remus FINALLY asked Alexia out; Sirius is still going strong with Ivy – I don't know how – **_(at this Sirius punched James lightly)_** and as for me, Penny and I are still going out. So yeah, not much on the romantic front. :D**_

_**Tell Adam hi and that he should be expecting a parcel from the Marauders. I mean anything to cheer the kid up; he definitely doesn't deserve all this torture after all. Tell Caitlyn that the Marauders miss her and that quidditch is no fun with her. :D**_

_**As for you Lily, try to stay safe and out of trouble. I really would break my head if anything happened to you. Remus said to say that Michael has come everyday to the Gryffindor table asking for you. Sirius calls it obsession. :D Tell everyone again to be strong and stay safe.**_

_**Tc, **_

_**James (and Sirius, Remus and Peter)**_

And as they sent it off, they wondered what was happening right now in that small home in East London, where two particular Griffyndor girls were staying.

*****************

Lily could barely contain her excitement when she saw her owl in the distance, clutching on to a letter, most likely of the Marauders'. She felt that Caitlyn and herself needed some cheering up after staying 4 days in the mourning house. And the Marauders were just the people to help with that.

She read it and smiled. It captured exactly their personality; it was as if the Marauders were standing right in front of her and talking. She chuckled when she read the part about Sirius and Ivy and also curiously wondered about the surprise for Adam. Then she saw the parcel attached to the envelope and smiled. Knowing the Marauders, they must have put something exceptionally crazy in there.

She went to find Caitlyn to show her the letter, but she soon forget what she came for when she saw Caitlyn huddled in the corner, crying. Mr Ryans and his daughter had always been exceptionally close and for her, it was like losing the person you love most in the world.

Caitlyn stopped crying when she saw Lily there; she sniffed and immediately sat up straight. She was the type of girl that would never cry in front of people, never tried to show her weak side. She would even try to stay strong in front of her own best friend, Lily.

Lily looked at her and sighed: then she too, sat on the floor alongside Caitlyn and put her arms round her best friend. Caitlyn put her head on Lily's shoulder, her eyes boring into the opposite wall. And that's where the two best friends lay, in silence, in sadness.

******************

Okay guys...I hope you found that chapter....emotional?

I'm sorry I didn't write much but I couldn't....it's hard to write lots about sadness and death

Plus...it just bores me, writing the same thing over and over again.

Anyways....next chapter, a lot better and a lot longer I promise :D

And again pls pls pls pls review!

Thanx,

Vanillaberries


	8. Chapter 8: Boyfriend Problems

Would you take a step forward?

Okay so I hope you liked the last chapter....

I mean I hope it didn't bore you or anything :D

This chapter's gonna have a bit more drama in it.

Chapter 8

When Lily and Caitlyn both came back to Hogwarts after the funeral, there was a big celebration from the Gryffindors. (all the work of the Marauders and Alice) The Great Hall had been lined with a huge banner saying 'Welcome back Lily & Caitlyn!' and they received many tight hugs from their close friends. Even some people from other houses came to see how they had been.

The moment Michael saw Lily, he ran up to her and hugged her extremely tight; then he pulled back and gave her a long, passionate kiss. Lily looked surprised but she closed her eyes, then kissed him back, her hands making their way up to his hair. They stood there for quite a long time, before James cleared his throat and shifted around uncomfortably.

Both Lily and Michael broke apart, wondering why everyone was staring at them. Sirius was giving Lily the hardest glare ever; 'If you wanna make out, you can do that, but why in front of MY best mate, who just happens to be in love with you Lily! And you know it!' he thought angrily, then turned to look at James, who had gone off to find Penny, but was sneaking back glances every few seconds.

Caitlyn was looking at the way Lily reacted; she was blushing and looking at James' retreating figure. Then her face slightly hardened at she looked ahead to the Ravenclaw table. There was Penny and James, sitting very close together and stealing kisses every now and then.

'It's like another Lily versus James war again; except this time, it's about love. Making the other one jealous. Why don't they just get together?' Caitlyn thought as she looked between James and Lily, shaking her head.

Once they were seated at the table, they began talking about all the upcoming events: the Gryffindor-Slytherin match, the Christmas Ball and many other things. Caitlyn and Lily were animatedly talking about the theme of the ball while the other three marauders started talking about James' quidditch tactics for the Gryffindor team.

"Oh my god Lily! I've got the perfect idea! Why don't we have like a muggle theme for the ball, or a red and white theme?" Caitlyn asked, clearly excited about planning the ball. Lily nodded, absent-mindedly, as her focus shifted towards the Ravenclaw table again. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she caught James whispering something into Penny's ear then her giggling.

Lily sighed; she liked Michael, didn't she? She just wasn't sure of her feelings right now.

'I mean I'm feeling things when watching James Potter with his girlfriend!' she considered, before turning to Caitlyn and responding.

When the bell finally rang, the Marauders and the two girls both had a free period so they met at the pond. Michael and Penny were both there too, causing the atmosphere between Lily and James to tense up slightly.

"So Penny, is it true your father is trying out for the Minister of Magic?" Caitlyn said, trying to make some conversation. Penny nodded as James put an arm round her waist.

"But he says that campaigning is very hard now; I mean, even though he's a pureblood and stuff, the Death Eaters are still out to kill him," she explained sadly as Caitlyn sighed in sympathy.

Sirius, sensing the need for some cheering up, grabbed Caitlyn's arm and hauled her off the ground; then he pushed her into the pond, not paying heed to her screaming objections. Everybody laughed, including Lily. And that's how the water fight started.

James dragged Penny in while Remus and Peter both jumped in by themselves. Michael and Lily, being most sensible, were reluctant at first; but James came behind Lily and shoved her in. She screamed and slapped James hard, then giggled and turned to Michael shyly.

She gave him her most charming smile and he was in the water within seconds. He put her face between his hands and leaned down to give her a sweet kiss. Sirius whistled while Caitlyn just teased Lily, pointing out her blushing face.

James frowned and sighed slightly: the flashbacks of fighting with Lily, talking to her and kissing her came back to his mind quickly as he tightened his grip on Penny's shoulder. She jumped slightly, wondering what was wrong with him.

He then flashed her a smile and led her out the pond, then under the tree, where he leaned on her slightly and gave her a long kiss. She immediately responded, putting her arms round his neck and twisting her foot with his.

The Marauders immediately noticed a distraction and turned towards the pair; Sirius groaned and covered Peter's widened eyes, Remus and Caitlyn chuckled but Lily didn't smile at all. She felt the jealousy building up inside of her as she watched James pull Penny closer to him.

'Why do I keep on feeling these things?' she thought to herself, 'It's not like I have feelings for James or something. Right?'

'Ah! But you do! See, every time you catch James and Penny together, you feel jealous. Every time they hug or sit close together, you wish it were you, don't you?' a voice inside her teased. She hit herself mentally and frowned. She had a boyfriend who was perfect for her; why was she bothering with other things?

James found Lily quietly sitting in the Heads' common room, reading her favourite muggle book: A little princess. He sighed; she looked so serene and beautiful when she was absorbed in something, he noted. His favourite part was that her green eyes seemed to brighten with knowledge and sparkle. He cleared his throat, getting Lily's attention.

"Uh Lily, it's time for patrols. Should we go now?" he asked. She nodded and quickly got up, brushing her robes straight. They set off from their quarters, checking every alleyway, every room.

"So, how's the quidditch team coming along? All set for the big match?" Lily said, asking about the topic that least interested her. James ruffled his hair and said,

"Yeah; I've been working the team quite hard and I'm really pleased. Are you coming along tomorrow?" he asked, quite eager to know if she was coming to watch.

"Uh well, yeah, I mean Caitlyn would kill me if I didn't," she joked, before she noticed James' face fall, and corrected herself, "Ofcourse, I always come to support the team and see us win!"

James laughed and winked at her, ruffling his hair again. They continued talking about several other things, including their work and many students in their year.

Then they heard a noise coming from one of the nearby broom closets. It sounded like some sort of giggling and a few rustles here and there. James crept up slowly to the door then burst it open, surprising the couple inside. Lily's eyes opened wide, then she started laughing.

"SIRIUS!" James screamed, as Sirius grinned cheekily and winked at Ivy, who was blushing profusely. "DAMN Padfoot, that was such a wrong sight!"

"Well, what can I say, Prongs? I just know where to lead a lady," at this he flashed a smile at Ivy, who giggled, then said slyly, "And just what were you two thinking of, when you decided to come in here? Lily Evans and James Potter in a broom closet?! Scandalous!" he teased.

Lily blushed as James wacked Sirius playfully. "I have a boyfriend Sirius. Does it ring a bell in your mind?" she said sarcastically as she looked at Ivy, who was clinging on to Sirius, and raised her eyebrows.

"Alright. You two, off to your dorms. And 10 points taken off each of you." she added.

"WHAT?!" Sirius and James yelled, protesting with Lily.

When Sirius and Ivy had finally gone out of sight, James and Lily made their way back to their quarters. James furrowed his eyebrows and said, (Lily in normal, James in bold)

"Why'd you take points of them?! They didn't do anything wrong!"

"It's late hours and they're not meant to be outside their dorms!"

"Lily, it's not like they were out of the castle or something! You didn't have to be so uptight with them!"

"Well, Potter, I'm only doing my head duties!"

"Oh so it's back to Potter now is it?"

"Well, when you're back to being an idiot! I thought you had changed this year!"

"Well what's with you? Haven't you ever been outside the girls' dorms after hours?"

"This is different!"

"How?!"

"They were not meant to be in broom closet together!" then Lily muttered, "What does Sirius even see in Ivy?"

Unfortunately for Lily, James heard the last comment and fired up even more. However much he liked Lily, Sirius was like a brother to him and he would never let anyone accuse him without getting away.

"You have no right to question what Sirius does! So what if goes out with Ivy? If you're asking what he sees in her, I'd like to ask you what you see in Michael?!"

Lily glared at him and walked up to him so her face was inches away from his; she brought out her wand, pointing it threateningly to his chest, then she whispered to him;

"Don't try to touch on your own personal problems just because things aren't working out your way. Sirius is wrong and you know it!" and with that she slapped him hard on the cheek, then walked off briskly down the corridor.

James looked at her retreating figure, his hand raised to his cheek. 'Damn' he thought as he kicked the wall, 'Why does she always try to pick something out for nothing?!' Then he made his way back to the heads' quarters angrily.

James and Lily avoided each other for the next few days; they only spoke when they were talking about work or planning the ball. All their friends tried to make them apologise to each other, but they were too stubborn.

Lily gradually began to see that she missed James; his vibrant talk and wide smiles, and his warm laugh that always comforted her. She missed him. Everything about him.

Caitlyn was having a hard time seeing her best friend reminisce over losing James; she knew that Lily and James were closer than they thought, they just hadn't figured it out yet. Sirius sneaked it out of James that he was partially the cause of their fight; he felt guilty and tried to explain to Lily but she stood firm with her opinions.

Finally, after a week, when Lily was walking down to the Great Hall with Michael, she thought of apologising to James.

'Was he right; did I overreact?'

'No ofcourse not, you were just doing your duties.'

'But it's not such a big deal for Sirius to be caught in a broom closet!'

'Ah, but James was neglecting his head duties.'

'He's obviously going to stand up for his best friend! Wouldn't you? And it wasn't such a big deal!'

With all these thoughts running through her mind, she forgot that Michael was right beside her; he was looking at her concerned and said, "Lily, are you alright? You've been kinda off lately."

She smiled at his concern for her and held his hand. Then she leaned up to him and gave him a sweet kiss. "I'm fine. Just thinking about some things." He nodded as they made their way through the hall doors.

After waving goodbye to Michael, she made her way to the Gryffindor table, which only made her stomach lurch even more. For the past few days, she had tried to avoid James and the rest of the Marauders, but now that Caitlyn was sitting with them, she had no alternative. Unluckily she was sitting opposite Sirius and across to James. He was talking to Remus when Lily came along and even though his eyes flickered for a moment, Lily noted that he never looked at her or even glanced. He just seemed to ignore her.

Lily sighed; she was sick and tired of the silent treatment. 'I can't bare this anymore; I hate when friends are mad at me!' So she made up her mind that she was going to corner him after breakfast and apologise.

Caitlyn snapped her out of her thoughts. "Lily, Lily! Talk about day dreaming! Come on eat!" she said. Lily nodded and took a plate of pancakes nearby. As she applied nutella to them, she watched Sirius look at James in guilt; she sighed, Sirius really did feel bad for this whole fight.

She whispered his name and when he looked at her, she smiled and mouthed, 'Don't feel guilty. James and I just have problems to sort out."

He smiled weakly in return and went back to his food. She had never really seen Sirius feel guilty for anything before.

When the bell finally rang, Lily made sure she got up just ahead of James so that she could catch him. She told Caitlyn to go on to the Transifiguration classroom as she waited outside the hall. Soon, she saw the Marauders coming towards her.

She clutched her turquoise bag nervously as they came within talking distance to her. Sirius looked at her puzzled but Remus knew of her purpose, and just simply smiled. James glanced at her as he took a few steps towards her, once he saw her indication.

Although it seemed like they had gone, the Marauders were only just round the corner, Remus trying to drag Sirius from spying.

(Lily in normal, James in bold)

"So...I needed to talk to you."

"**Yeh? About wat?"**

"James, just hear me out, okay? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so strict on Sirius; I mean he's in a broom closet like nearly every day! And seriously, I didn't think it would affect you much."

"**He's my best mate Lily, like my brother. Of course I'd defend him."** Lily smiled at this, then gave James a hug, before pulling back and teasing,

"And I'm warning you – one more word about my boyfriend and off with _your_ head!"

James just chuckled as they made their way to the Charms classroom. And that's how their friends saw them once they came through the door; laughing and talking again.

The next morning, as Lily sat down at the breakfast table, she realized it was the day of the Gryffindor-Slytherin match. With all the drama in her life, she had forgotten about many other things. She could see James sitting in his seat, his food untouched and Remus trying to persuade him to digest something.

She smiled; James was so passionate about quidditch, it was funny to see him all tensed up before a match, not eating anything. She waved down at him; his face slightly relaxed, as he broke into a wide grin.

Then Penny came behind him, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek as she sat next to him; his focus shifted to the brunette next to him.

At this, Lily's eyes darkened. 'I can't believe he's still going out with her! It must be a record!' she thought bitterly. But then she thought again.

'Penny's a nice person; she's smart, funny and kind. Everything James would want. I mean what's wrong in her?'

After breakfast, Lily saw the team make their way through the doors of the Great Hall and onto the pitch. Few of the younger players looked slightly nervous, but James and Sirius walked ahead, huge smiles on their face.

Lily made her way through the stands, trying to find Peter and Remus. She finally found them cheering loudly as Brian Jordan, the commentator, started announcing the team names.

"Here come the Slytherin team: Black, Lestrange, Trenton, Adams, Zabini and captain MALFOY!" With this, loud cheers erupted from the Slytherin stands as the team made their way on the pitch. It seemed like more booing of the Slytherins could be heard than cheering!

"And now, for the greater team! The Gryffindors! Here they come: the two beaters, Black and Pewitt, seeker, Wood, keeper, my mate Jack Bell, and the three chasers, Johnson, Ryans and OUR CAPTAIN JAMES POTTER!" Huge amounts of cheers came from the Gryffindor stands as well as from the other two houses.

As the team came out, Sirius being his usual teasing self, waved his wand and wrote in the air, (backwards writing)

'Go Gryffindors!' as James added, 'Poor snakies are gonna lose!' and they finished it with, 'This is written by Sirius Black and James Potter.'

Once all the Gryffindor fans figured it out, they let out a huge cheer as the pair blew kisses around the field. Ivy and Penny were sitting with Lily, Peter and Remus, and they were cheering louder than everybody else.

Lily looked at James flying about on his broomstick and sighed. His hair was sticking about in different angles and his face held a huge smile on it. As he was called to shake hands with the Slytherin captain, he smirked and gave one last wave to his fans.

She smiled and yet again sighed.

'What is wrong with me?' she thought, 'All of a sudden, I'm starting to notice all these things about James, that I never noticed before. How his smile lights up the whole room, how his hazel eyes look so intense sometimes, how he cares about his friends...what are you doing Lily?!'

Secretly she knew the answer to her question. It was easy. She was falling for James. James Potter. Simple.

Within the first 15 minutes of the game, Gryffindor had already scored 4 goals, 3 being James'. Slytherin had only managed to score one. Sirius had done a very good job while Caitlyn had been successful in scoring Gryffindor's other goal.

During the game, Penny and Ivy tried to pick a conversation with Lily since they knew each other slightly. Lily, although normally good at it, found it hard to make talk with them and they exchanged a few general words. Penny found this puzzling since she knew Lily before and had known that the Head Girl wasn't normally like this.

'Why does Lily act so cold with me now? She always used to try make conversation with me and laugh while at it. What's happened now?' Penny thought confused, but then she realized, 'I'm so stupid! It's James, it's got to be about James. Why else? She's never been like this to me, but now that I'm James' girlfriend...'

Her thoughts got interrupted as everybody around her started cheering wildly; Charlie Wood had finally caught the snitch and Gryffindor had won the game 310-70. As the whole team descended onto the pitch, most of the Gryffindor fans started running towards them, hugging the team, especially James. Lily went too, but stopped short when she saw Penny run up to James, as he twisted her around and gave her a long kiss.

She turned her head away, slightly jealous and angry, and went to congratulate her best friend. She found Caitlyn a few metres away, chatting with Roger Fenton, a Ravenclaw; as Lily didn't want to interrupt her friend, she tried to find Michael in the huge crowd.

'I know he's here somewhere, he loves quidditch!' she thought to herself.

She finally found him talking with a few of his friends; Lily came up from the side and gave him a smile then tried to join in with their conversation. She found her mind drifting away from the topic and towards a certain quidditch captain.

James was clearly basking in all the attention and glory people were giving him. He was cheering loudly with Sirius, while his best friend screamed, "Party in the Gryffindor common room" and the Head Boy clearly obliged.

As everyone headed up the tower stairs, James came up to Lily, giving her a smile. This made Lily's insides melt; 'His smile's gorgeous' she thought dreamily.

(James in bold)

"**Hey Lily! I saw you at the match, you were sitting with Penny and Remus. Are you gonna join us for the party?" **

"Hey! Yeh, congratulations! You were brilliant! Um, I'm not too sure about the party, I mean- "

"**Oh come on! Surely you can bring Michael as well."**

Lily thought about it for a moment then nodded.

"Alright, but it better not be till to late. I'd be a bad Head Girl then." as she smiled at him.

James grinned and winked at her. Then he put an arm round her shoulder and led her through the common room, where the party was in full rage.

Ivy and Sirius, clearly the most drunk people around, were dancing in the middle of the room, their bodies close to each other. Caitlyn, on the other hand, was standing in a corner with Roger Fenton, sipping her pumpkin juice and giving Roger a coy smile. Remus, Lily was glad to see, was leading Alexia his girlfriend, to the middle of the room, where they started to dance to the music.

Lily sighed and went over to Michael, who handed her a drink, smiling.

"So, you up for a dance?" he asked her. She smiled as he led her to the dance floor and put his arms round her waist. They started making conversation. (Michael in bold)

"**Gryffindor did really well today; we're gonna have a tough time trying to beat them."**

"Yeh," she smiled knowingly, "James has worked them really hard throughout and most of them are really good flyers."

"**Right...anyways, you never really told me why you and Potter became friends. Any reason?"**

"Well, it's hard to explain, but he seemed to have grown up over the summer; and when he asked me to be friends, I decided to put everything else away."

"**Even after what he's done to you?"**

"Well, people change, Michael. James has changed a lot. I think you should give him a chance too." Michael then stopped dancing, and led Lily off the dance floor, into a secluded corner.

"**I saw the way he treated you the last six years, Lily! A guy can't change that much of the summer! I just don't see why..."** his voice trailed off.

"See why what?" Lily asked sharply.

'Michael's making such a big deal out of nothing!' she thought.

He mumbled his answer and turned, so his back was facing her. Unfortunately for Michael, Lily heard his last sentence.

"You think I'm choosing James over you! What's wrong with you?! He's a friend Michael! Nothing but a friend! You're my boyfriend, you're supposed to trust me!" Lily screamed slightly, not believing her ears.

Michael tensed up, quite angry, and screamed back, "Well if he's just a 'friend', then why do I hear rumours of you too secretly getting together every like, week!" He glared at her, and stormed off, his footsteps echoing down the deserted hallway.

Lily looked at his retreating figure, shocked. She leaned against the wall and slumped down, then put her head in her hands, and gave a muffled sob.

'How can he think I'd be cheating on him? How?!' she thought. 'James and I are just friends! And how can be believe those rumours, from people like Rachel Roberts!'

Just as she was thinking over what might have triggered Michael, none other than the tall, lean, messy-haired Head Boy came along. He came out of the portrait hole, humming to himself, when he saw Lily sitting down, crying.

He immediately went to her side, put her arms round her, and gave Lily a tight hug. Then he asked her concerned, "What happened Lily? Did someone hurt you? I swear I'm gonna kill them!"

Lily smiled at this comment, thinking weakly, "You don't know that me and Michael fought because of you! Not your fault but still..." but she just said, "Me and Michael just had a fight. I'll be fine."

James' eyes looked fierce for a moment, before he returned his gaze to her. He helped her up and then led her through to the common room. By now, most of the young students had left; only few seventh-years were on the dance floor.

"Alright everyone, clear up the mess! We're gonna call it a night!" James yelled. The remaining people groaned and started to pick things up. Sirius, who was very drunk, stumbled about his path, before he reached James. He patted his best friend's shoulder and slurred, "Hey Jamesss, I just wanna tell you ONE thinggg. I lurvveee you, you're my besttt mattee, you know that?"

James chuckled, and sent his best friend off to his dorms. Then he and Lily made their way to their quarters. Once they got inside, Lily yawned.

"You should get some sleep now. Maybe you'll feel better in the morning." he said comfortingly. She smiled and nodded.

"Goodnight James. Thanks for everything." Then Lily leaned up to him and give him a kiss on the cheek; James looked at her retreating figure, his hand up to his cheek, as he smiled wide.

'Did Lily just kiss me?" he asked himself, before he too went into his room.

Omg...been like 2/3 weeks since I've last uploaded!

I'm glad to know that many people have added this story to their favourite stories list. :D

Also, I'm just gonna ask you one favour...review!!

Please review...you probably think something of this story!

Send anything in.

Thanx,

Vanillaberries

6 30 8 30 915

10 15 10 30 12 45 1 00 3 15 3 45 5 45 6 30 8 30 9 15


	9. Chapter 9: A twist to the chase?

Would you take a step forward?

Wohh I haven't updated in ages!

Sorry to any readers...I was having exams and went on holiday :/

Anyways here's chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Hey," Lily bumped into a tall student passing by; she looked up, startled at the familiar voice. It was Michael.

She sighed, knowing he had come to apologise; it had been a week before he finally came round to saying sorry. To be honest, she just couldn't be bothered anymore. All this time in their relationship, she had the impression of a trustworthy guy.

"I guess these are his true colours," she thought bitterly.

"Look Lily," he started off, but Lily just turned around and started to walk away from him. Michael caught her elbow and held onto it softly, but firm. He led her into a nearby empty classroom.

"Lily, just listen to me. Please! Look, I know I've been a jerk and I haven't treated you like I should. I mean, I can't help but feeling jealous when I see James talking to you. You're great Lily! You're smart, loyal, beautiful and a great person to talk to. And James...every damn person in this school knows that he likes you! So now that you're great friends with him, I can't trust him when he'll try a move on you."

Michael was hoping that this would comfort Lily and make her understand but instead, her green eyes grew big and her cheeks turned bright red.

"Make a move on me?" she spat, "How could you say such a thing? James would never do that! Yeh, so he's become one of my closest friends but that's only because I work with him all the time. What I can't understand Michael, is why you can't trust me?" Lily finished off with a broken voice.

"Trust? Lily, ofcourse I trust you! What are you talking about?" Michael said, reaching out for her.

Lily pushed his arm away then sighed and turned slightly away.

"When we started going out I thought you'd trust me in this relationship. I didn't expect this, atleast not from you," Lily said, the sadness easily determinable in her voice.

"Lily," Micheal started, but Lily put a finger on his lips, silencing him. He took her hands softly and came a little closer.

"Lily, I don't want to do this but maybe we should just take a short break now. I can clear my head, get my stuff straight," he gave a weak smile. Lily gave a sigh and nodded her head slightly. She put her arms around Michael, and gave him a tight hug, before she left for the Gryffindor tower.

**********break break break break break break*************

'Is Sirius playing games with me?' Caitlyn asked herself; she lay on her bed, staring out of the window. She could see a group of first-years sneaking around on the Quidditch field with their broomsticks. How she wished she could go back to those innocent years!

Her thoughts ran back to the Gryffindor boy. 'Why is he still going out with Iris when he KNOWS that he hardly even likes her? She's just a toy for him, something to pass time! And we almost kissed that night!" she thought frantically, before her face she thought bitterly, "Yeh, the same night you kissed Iris and asked her to be your girlfriend."

And she knew Sirius was avoiding her in some way. It was not obvious but all those little hints. Whenever she was approaching, he would somehow turn in the opposite direction and start walking. When they would be partnered up together in class, he wouldn't say a word to her.

It frustrated Caitlyn. So badly. 'What's your problem Sirius?' she thought angrily, 'Why do you always have to shy away from the truth?' Her mind wandered back to a memory few years ago.

*Flashback*

Sirius passes Caitlyn in their third year. Caitlyn is clutching Lily's arm and they are giggling about something. Sirius, on the other hand, is whispering something excitedly into James' ear.

As they pass each other, they both look at one another and they blush heavily and Sirius gives a silly grin. Whereas Lily gives James a haughty glare and James replies back with a wink.

When James and Sirius are far behind them, Lily hisses at her best friend, "You like Sirius Black?"

Caitlyn blushes even more and squirms in her position. She hesitates to look Lily in the eye, knowing quite well that her best friend hates the two Marauders.

Meanwhile, with James and Sirius, a similar situation is going on. "Caitlyn? Seriously, Sirius? Caitlyn? Never thought she'd be your type, mate." James gave Sirius a wink. "Well you've got my approval. She's best friends with Lily," he said pompously.

Sirius blushed and gave his best friend a light punch in the arm, before saying, "Should I ask her out, mate? I mean, I don't think I should. I never go into serious relationships."

James looked uncertain for a minute then seeing the confused look on Sirius' face, he quickly nodded and put an arm round his best friend's shoulders.

They walked away, their subject changing to their newest prank.

*End of Flashback*

'Even then, he would give me these hints as if he really liked me. And all that time, I thought he's going to ask me out. Just you wait Caitlyn. I guess it never turned out that way," she thought, reminding herself of the painful time she went through.

At first, Lily was shocked that her best friend liked a marauder. But then she tried to be more supportive and encouraged them both together. However, when she saw that Sirius was simply playing around with Caitlyn, she turned cold towards him. Until, ofcourse, seventh year.

Caitlyn thought about James and Lily; she knew they were meant for each other. Everybody knew that. But Lily was going out with Michael and James was with Penny. 'But it'll work out eventually,' Caitlyn assured herself. 'Lily deserves that fairytale ending.'

Just that moment, Lily burst through the door, her cheeks streaked with tears. Caitlyn immediately got up and ran to her side.

"Oh my god Lily! What happened? Is it something to do with Michael? Did he upset you?" Caitlyn asked, her voice full of concern.

"Why can't he just trust me? I mean he always seems to think James is after me, just because he used to like me! James is with Penny, and Michael doesn't seem to get that!" Lily said, her voice turning desperate. She buried her head in Caitlyn's shoulders and cried softly.

"What a jerk! So did you break up with him?" her best friend asked.

"Well he came to apologise again and then we had a fight. And then he said we should take a bre-break," Lily cried out.

"Aww no! Well I think you're better off without him. Now atleast, you have some time to be free, let things go," Caitlyn assured her.

Lily nodded and lifted her head up to see her best friend smiling softly. She gave Caitlyn a confused look.

"I've decided we're gonna go out tomorrow and just have girl fun," Caitlyn announced, giving Lily a big grin. "And if you want, we can bring the Marauders along too."

"Are you sure? I mean, I think James and Remus might enjoy but Sirius seems to be avoiding us," Lily said, uncertain.

"Avoiding me, you mean," Caitlyn muttered under her breath.

"What do you mean? Why would you think that?" Lily asked, concerned.

"He's been ignoring me the past week! It's so obvious Lily!" Caitlyn almost screamed.

"Well maybe if you just told him of your feelings, he might, I dunno, change his mind?" Lily shrugged. She thought that the simple advice would benefit her best friend but she turned out to be wrong.

Caitlyn become even more frustrated and said, "It's not so easy, Lily! God, Sirius is not the type of person that you can easily confess your feelings to! And besides he's with Ivy! What the hell can _I _do?"

Lily softly stroked her best friend's arm and said, "Caitlyn, it's not point distressing over something when you're not prepared to face Sirius. You're right. Maybe we should take some time off together. Time to clear our heads." She finished off with a soft smile.

Caitlyn shook Lily's hand off, angry, and stood up quickly. "No point distressing! I'm not the only one who's got her feelings muddled up! Look at you! You're going out with Michael but become friends with James and fucking _lead him on _to believe you like him! Then you claim you feel things for him sometimes!_ You're_ the one that needs to clear her head! Don't accuse me when _you're_ the one in a fucking messed up relationship!"

Lily looked up, shocked at Caitlyn's words. She then stood up, holding her glass of pumpkin juice in hand, and quickly threw it on her best friend. She then stormed out of the room, enraged.

Caitlyn winced, wiping the juice away from her eyes. "I've got to talk to Sirius," she muttered and added, "And Lily."

***********break break break break break break************

"Moony, please lift your head from that god damn Transfiguration book," Sirius shouted across the boys' dorm room.

Remus slowly lifted his head from the book and said, "Mhmm?". Sirius just shook his head and sat on his bed, glancing over at James.

"Hey Prongs! What you say to a prank on the Slytherins today?" Sirius winked at his best friend, "We could try stink bombs, fireworks, growing beards-,"

James interrupted him, "Padfoot, I can't! I've got rounds with Lily today and if I miss them...that's beside the point. Maybe some other day Padfoot." Sirius' smile faded quickly as he turned away to hide his disappointment. He picked up his wand and quickly left he room.

At the doorway, he met Lily, who clearly looked angry. Sirius quickly stepped to the side, not wanting to get in 'mad' Lily's way.

"Come on James, we've got rounds!" she said loudly, before storming out again. Remus, Peter, James and Sirius snuck curious glances at each other, questioning her tone.

James sighed. "Well I guess I'd better be off. Lily's already in a bad mood." Sirius nodded and proceeded to the door as well.

*********break break break break break**************

"Sooo, any reason you're in a bad mood?" James asked Lily, while they were patrolling. Lily didn't respond for a second before saying, "I had a fight with Caitlyn."

James looked at her, shocked. Lily wasn't the sort of person that picked fights with her friends and neither was Caitlyn. 'It must have been about something quite serious,' he thought to himself.

"You want to talk to talk about it?" he asked her softly. Lily stopped and looked up at him, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Thanks James, but I'm not sure you'd understand," she said, not really wanting to confess their secrets. James raised an eyebrow, as if to say, 'Come on, _me_ not understanding?'

"Fine fine," Lily said impatiently, before she continued, "Caitlyn and I fought because um, Michael and I just um, decided to take a break." Seeing James' slightly shocked face, she continued on, "That wasn't all! Um well, Caitlyn likes Si-this guy," she quickly amended herself, "And I was giving her some advice but she grew really angry and started screaming things, so I just left."

There was a slight awkward silence between the two heads before James cleared his throat and said, "Well, um, I think maybe 'cause she might have been sensitive about that _guy_, I don't think she must have taken your advice in the right way. Look either way Lily, you two have been best friends for seven years! I wouldn't ruin a relationship like that for a stupid _guy _or whatever!" he said sincerely, then muttered, "Isn't there some sort of _girl code_ about that. Girlfriends before Boyfriends," he mimicked in a high voice.

After hearing this, Lily burst out laughing, shocked to know that James Potter knew about the girl code! She leaned against a wall, clutching her stomach, as a few tears rolled her cheek hysterically.

"Where did you learn _that_?" she asked, still giggling. James let out a 'hmph' and said, "My mum taught me when I entered Hogwarts about things like this."

Lily eventually stopped laughing and said sincerely to James, "You know James, you're really one of a kind. I mean you're popular, this great athlete and um, ridiculously good looking! But then you're sweet and funny on the inside. That's a new combination," she winked at him.

James blushed and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, as he usually did. "Uh thanks Lily," he said, still red in the face.

Lily looked on at him, slowly taking in what she had just said. 'A week ago, I would have never told him something like that! Look at him, Lily. He looks so cute blushing! Stop it Lily, you've got a boyfriend!' she thought to herself, trying to prevent any James-thoughts from entering her mind.

But a small devilish voice whispered in her ear, "Ahh! But you're on a break! You don't even know if you will get back together!"

Lily couldn't control herself, and before she knew it, she had taken a step closer to James, brought his head towards to hers, and kissed him full on the lips.

James was shocked. 'Lily Evans is kissing me! She's kissing me!' he thought wildly.

He closed his eyes and responded back, their heads slowly moving together. Lily wrapped her arms around his neck as he backed her onto the wall. They stood there for a few minutes before James broke away, still staring into Lily's eyes.

"Wow," she whispered, feeling fireworks burst in her stomach. James nodded and smiled, licking his lips.

Then he frowned slightly and took a step back from Lily, carefully removing both her arms from his neck. James turned away so his back was towards her. Lily frowned and said, "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this. I'd be cheating on Penny and I-I don't do that," he said softly, the pain audible in his voice.

Lily stood, shocked at his words. For six years, he had chased after her and now, he was saying no! 'Why is he running away?' Lily thought bitterly.

"Why are you doing this James? I thought you liked me for six years," she whispered.

"I do Lily! It's just...you've just come out of a relationship and I don't want to be a rebound guy. You're probably feeling hurt right now because you broke up with him and had a fight with Caitlyn and you want some comfort. And I'm there for you Lily, but I don't want to be taking advantage of you when you're upset!" he said, trying to make her understand, "And also, I've got a girlfriend and it wouldn't be fair on her if I cheated on her or just left her without a reason."

Lily tried to understand, but as much as she tried, the truth just became more painfully obvious to her. 'James doesn't like me anymore. He's pushing me away. He doesn't want you Lily!' she thought to herself as she turned away from him and walked away, tears in her eyes.

"Lily! Wait! Lily, can you just please come back! Please try to understand Lily!" James shouted across the corridor, but it was no use. Lily had now turned round the corner and was clearly out of sight.

'Rebound guy?' Lily thought to herself, 'He thought I was using him as a _rebound _guy? Why, James, why?'

She wanted so badly to head back to the girls' dorms and cry over it with Caitlyn but she knew that wasn't possible. 'I guess Caitlyn's got her own problems too,' she thought bitterly.

************break break break break break*************

She had tried everywhere! It was near impossible; where was Sirius? Caitlyn had made up her mind to fix one relationship and she decided Sirius would be easiest since Lily would still be a bit sore about the whole fight.

'Where can he be?' she thought to herself irritably as she desperately searched all the possible places. Finally, she went to the boys' dorms, in hope that he'd be there. 'Why didn't I check there in the first place?' she thought.

As she opened the door, she could hear the chatter of the Marauders coming through. She shifted uneasily in the doorway before all four of them realized she was there. They started shifting about, before James said, "Oh for god's sake! Moony, Wormtail, come on! Give Padfoot some place!"

As he passed Caitlyn, he heard her say, "Thanks James." He led his two friends out of the door, where they sat and discussed their new prank.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Caitlyn stepped nearer to Sirius' bed and sat awkwardly on Remus'.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Sirius asked, confused. Caitlyn met his eyes and frowned.

"You clearly know what it's about, Sirius! You've been ignoring me ever since the day you started dating Ivy! Why Sirius? What did I do?" she asked, frustrated.

Sirius tried to open his mouth for a comment but kept it shut. Truth was, he wasn't so sure himself. 'Ever since _that_ day, I've been feeling kinda guilty about Caitlyn. Like I nearly kissed her and then asked Ivy out! Ugh stupid me!" he scolded himself.

"I-I'm not ignoring you," Sirius said awkwardly. Caitlyn raised her eyebrows before he sighed. "Ok, ok. Look, Caitlyn. I almost kissed you that day and it's just been a little awkward since I'm going out with Ivy. _That's_ the truth," he confessed, relieved to get it out of him.

Caitlyn looked down and whispered back, "But you didn't know I was starting to fall for you and it hurt me when I saw you and Ivy in the corridor. That's _my_ truth."

However soft her tone was, Sirius heard it. He was shocked; Caitlyn liked him? Since when? But as soon as he got a chance to respond, she had quickly left the room, leaving Sirius in a confused state.

'Caitlyn likes me? But I'm going out with Ivy! Damn Sirius, why do you always get caught up in the mess?' he thought to himself as his three friends re-entered the room.

Seeing Sirius' state, James sat nearby him and knowingly said, "You're falling for her again, aren't you?" Sirius, Remus and Peter looked up, shocked at James' words.

"I'm right, aren't I Sirius?" he asked again. Sirius nodded his head quickly, while Remus and Peter just looked on, confused.

"Wait, what the hell are you guys talking about?" Remus asked, baffled. "Falling for _who_?"

James took a sigh and turned round to face Remus, who was sitting on his own bed. "Caitlyn, that's who," he said as he turned round to face Sirius and continued, "If I'm right, Caitlyn came to ask Sirius here why he's obviously _ignoring_ her and the reason is that Sirius likes her!"

"What? You like Caitlyn?" Remus shouted, so surprised he hadn't noticed any signs coming from Sirius. 'Truth is, he was so good at hiding it! Maybe he didn't know himself,' Remus thought to himself.

Finally, Sirius spoke up. He gave a weak smile at James and said, "You know way too much about me Prongs," and to Remus and Peter, he said, "Yeh, what James said is true but I wasn't so sure myself! And besides, now I've got a girlfriend."

Remus snorted. "Has that stopped before?" he said, teasing. Sirius thought for a moment then grinned and said, "Point."

James laughed and punched Sirius in the arm lightly while Peter let out a happy squeak. (After all, that's all he's good at :P)

"Whatcha say, Padfoot, if he play a prank on the Slytherins today?" James grinned, winking at his best friend. He thought that everyone needed a bit of cheering up.

"Sounds good Prongs," Sirius replied back, literally bouncing out of the room, Peter following. As Remus got up to leave, he saw James glance at his bedside photo of the Marauders and Lily and Caitlyn. It was taken last year, when they dragged the two girls for a memory.

"Prongs," Remus said, always the caring friend, "Are you alright?"

James looked up and smiled weakly, replying, "Yeh, I'm fine. Let's go, I don't think Sirius can hold in any longer."

As the two boys left the room, laughing, Remus couldn't help feeling there was something that James was not telling them.

***********break break break break break************

By the time Caitlyn had reached the head's quarters, she was nervous enough to turn back and run to her room. She never wanted to fight with Lily and apologizing would be even harder since it was her fault.

'Why am I always getting myself into this sort of mess? Why didn't I just listen to Lily and not abuse her like that?' Caitlyn asked herself impatiently. She muttered the password and stepped through the portrait hole, hesitating with every step.

She could hear Lily's voice coming from her room; Caitlyn guessed she was practicing spells. She went up to her door and knocked quickly, standing head down.

When Lily opened the door, she didn't look at all surprised to see Caitlyn there. She frowned slightly, before opening the door wider and ushering her in.

"You probably already know I'm here to apologise," Caitlyn said sheepishly. Lily nodded. "Lily, I-I just want to say that I'm really sorry, okay? I can't blame you for the fact that you and Michael broke up and neither can I blame you for feeling for James. I mean, look at the guy! Who _wouldn't _want him? I mean, I know I did at one point," Caitlyn gave a weak smile at Lily, who responded slightly, then continued, "Anyways, the point is, I shouldn't have screamed at you just because I was in a bad mood and I hope you forgive me."

Lily heard all this then hugged Caitlyn tight and said, "Ofcourse I can forgive you. Everyone gets into bad moods; it's part of being human Caitlyn."

Caitlyn smiled and opened her mouth to say something, before Lily continued, "But there's something else you should know," she said, frowning, "When I went on rounds with James, we were just talking about well, actually you. Anyways, he was offering me some really good advice, and I told him he had really changed. Then I don't know what happened to me but I started kissing him!"

Caitlyn looked at her, shocked, that _Lily Evans_ was telling her, that after _six years of hating James Potter_, she had _kissed_ him! 'Unbelievable!' she thought to herself.

Before she could help it, Caitlyn blurted out, "Was it good?" and blushed. Lily smiled and said, "That's the problem. It was amazing!"

Caitlyn felt really happy for her friend; she was finally ending up with a guy that was perfect for her. Then seeing Lily's slightly morose face, she asked her, "But what happened? I thought all this is good!"

"Yeh, well there's more," Lily continued, this time, more dejected, "When it ended, James starting saying stuff like he couldn't do this and he would be cheating on his girlfriend and that he cared for her."

Caitlyn's eyes softened at hearing this as she put her arms round her friend, comforting her. "Oh Lily," she said, sadly, "I'm so sorry. I never realised he'd say something like that! I mean he's been chasing after you since six years!"

Lily choked out, "Exactly!" and hit her head with a pillow. 'Why is everything going all wrong for me?' she thought to herself.

***********break break break break break************

For the next few days, it seemed as if the group had just fallen apart. James was ignoring Lily and Caitlyn was ignoring Sirius. The only sane ones seemed to be Peter, Remus and Alexia (Remus' girlfriend). They just didn't have a clue what was going on!

Alexia was really bonding with everyone since she had a sweet nature and was easy to talk to. She became friends easily with Lily and Caitlyn and that helped her in her relationship with Remus.

"Hey," a voice came behind Alexia, as she was talking to her other friends. She turned round to face Remus, who was smiling with a single rose.

She looked at him, shocked at the gesture. "Remus, what is this for?" she asked, amused.

He took a step closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. Then he whispered in her ear, "Happy one-month anniversary Alexia." At this, her heart melted, knowing that Remus really cared for her. She wrapped her arms round his neck and gave him a sweet kiss.

"Thank you, so much," she said sincerely, holding the rose in her hand. "Let's go for a walk; I want to ask you a few things."

Remus nodded as they headed down to the Pond, chatting on the way.

"You're going to Hogsmeade next week, aren't you? I mean, it's not likely that you have a detention of some sort," she giggled before continuing, "so I was thinking, why don't we celebrate that day."

Alexia beamed at Remus but he responded with a weak smile, saying, "I'm sorry, I can't. Not next week. I'm helping James and Sirius out with something."

Her face fell but then she looked at him, eyebrows raised and said, "Why would Sirius and James miss a Hogsmeade trip? I thought they love going there!"

"Yeh, they do, but this is something really important and I promised them I'd help. I'm really sorry," Remus said, wishing so badly he could tell her the truth.

She nodded her head sadly and made her way up to the castle, giving him a hug as she left.

'Why can't I just tell her what's wrong? I mean I really like Alexia! And if she really likes me back, then maybe she'll take the truth well," Remus thought to himself.

But he knew the real reason why he couldn't be honest with her. He was too afraid that she would be too shocked and afraid to be near him. 'The guys took it quite well when they find out, but they were my best friends for a year already. It would be easier for them to accept my being a werewolf than Alexia would have to," he thought sadly.

Just at that moment, he saw James heading down in his direction, except his eyes were focused somewhere else. Remus shouted his name out, and beckoned him over.

As James came closer to him, Remus could see that his friend wasn't smiling but frowning slightly, quite unhappy.

"Hey, what happened? You don't look too happy," Remus commented, walking further with James, "Did something happen with Penny? Or did Lily fight with you?"

James stopped at a halt and sighed; he turned to his friend and said, "Lily kissed me."

Remus whipped his head around, shocked. If he was expecting something outrageous, this clearly classified it!

"What?" he said, still in shock mode, "Did you just say _Lily_ kissed you?"

James nodded, slightly bemused and continued, "Yeh! We were just talking about some of her personal life stuff and then she starts complimenting me. Then, all of a sudden, she just kisses me!"

"What? Just like that? And...was it good?" Remus asked, eager to know the few details. James nodded, grinning, and then said, "Yeh, it was great but I broke away."

Remus looked at him, once again shocked.

"_You_ broke away? I thought you've been waiting for this moment to happen for six years! What happened?" Remus asked, thoroughly confused now.

James sighed heavily and looked Remus in the eye, and said, "You know that it was great and you know that I've waited for it to happen but...I can't explain what I'm feeling right now. You might not know right now, but a few hours before Lily and I were on patrol, Michael broke up with her. I don't wanna be the rebound guy Remus! If Lily wants to go out with me, I would want it so that she's not looking for a shoulder to cry on, or someone that will give her some comfort!" James explained exasperatedly, knowing that Remus would understand his situation.

And he did. Remus knew James well, and he knew that although his friend was the popular, sometimes arrogant, jock, when it came to his personal life, he took things quite seriously now.

James continued on bitterly, "And Lily's a bit late now. I decided to move on from her when I started going out with Penny. And unlike some of my other girlfriends, I really like Penny. She's sweet, caring and smart – everything I look for! And I don't want to dump her for someone who I don't even think has feelings for me! I wouldn't treat Penny like that! I- I really do care about her Remus," he finished off softly, wanting his friend to know how he really felt.

There was a small silence before Remus responded. He nodded and replied back, "I know that you do James. I know that Penny isn't just another girl for you to mess about with. But I also know that Lily doesn't think of you as some rebound guy for her – I think that she really does know what she's doing."

James turned his head away from his friend, and slightly nodded. He could understand what his friend meant, but he had gotten over Lily. Hadn't he?

**********break break break break break***********

Ohkkayy now that was one of the deepest chapters I've written so far!

I tried to make everything a little more balanced, with a lot more Sirius/Caitlyn action and even some Remus/Alexia action.

I will try to post as soon as possible :D

But in the meantime...pls pls pls review! I don't feel like updating quickly when there are really few reviews :/

Thanx,

Vanillaberries


	10. Chapter 10: All I Need

07

Would you take a step forward?

Ok I hope you liked the last chapter

I also realized that I keep on calling Sirius' girlfriend Iris when actually her name is Ivy. I think it came from the fact that I was reading two stories at the time with that name ahaha!

But all readers, pls pls review!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry Potter but it is all J.K. Rowling, everything! Aha the only things that are mine are the main characters Caitlyn, Michael and Penny.

Chapter 10

Sirius was sitting in his room, thinking yet again about Caitlyn. Finally, after weeks, he knew the reason why he was avoiding Caitlyn. 'It was so simple!' he thought to himself, 'How could I have missed the fact that I _liked_ her?'

And now he was with Ivy, and he was only forcing himself to believe that he actually had any serious feelings for her. It was simply attraction, that's all. Deceiving attraction.

'What can I do? What can I do?' he thought over in his mind, 'I could break up with Ivy, and then ask Caitlyn out, or that's just mean. Maybe I could just leave things as they are and see if Caitlyn moves on, or not. No! Why would you want that? You _like_ her, for Merlin's sake, Sirius!'

He hit his head, all possibilities seeming ridiculous to him now. Why couldn't he just decide which one he wanted, and how he was going to go about it?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door open and James stumbled in, exhausted. He then turned to Sirius and gave his best friend a dirty look. Sirius looked at him confused. 'Have I done something wrong?' he thought to himself, 'James is _never_ mad at me!'

James looked at him once more then spat, "You couldn't just be faithful to the team once, could you? You ditched us all, and what were you doing? Probably off with Ivy, I'm guessing! And then Remus started to feel really dizzy and weak, so I and Peter took him to the hospital wing. Pay him a visit, _if__you__care_!"

Sirius looked at him, shocked that such words were coming out of James' mouth. He had so many things racing in his mind, but nothing came out of his mouth. He was speechless.

After a moment, he said, "I'm sorry, James. I really didn't know that we had a practice and everything. I really am sorry, I just had my mind twisted around few things. And I do care about Remus!"

James' look softened as he put an arm round his best friend and nodded understandingly. Then he asked curiously, "So how bad was the situation that you forgot about Quidditch?" He winked at Sirius.

His best friend sighed and confessed, "I was thinking about Caitlyn. And Ivy. I just want to know what to do with them. I like Caitlyn but I feel attracted to Ivy. Is that wrong. James?"

James shook his head and told Sirius, "No, ofcourse you might be attracted to Ivy. But you like Caitlyn, that's no joke. And Sirius, as much as I'm you're best friend, you're being an asshole to her now. First ignoring her, then not telling her the truth, breaking her heart, then ignoring her again. Do you really want to do this to her?"

Sirius pondered over this for a minute, before he shook his head slowly.

**********break ***********

Lily was sitting in the Great Hall when Penny approached her; her face was buried in a Transfiguration book as her hand scurried across a piece of parchment.

"Hey," Penny said, smiling at Lily, "Are you a bit too busy?" Lily looked up, surprised to see Penny there, then shook her head, and told her to sit down.

"So um, do you need any help?" Lily offered, confused why the Ravenclaw girl was there. Penny laughed and shook her head. "No," she continued on, a bit more seriously, "I've come here to talk to you about someone. As a matter of fact, James."

Lily looked at her, apprehensively, wondering if she knew about their kiss. "James probably told her and now she's come her to tell me to stay away from her boyfriend. What did you expect, Lily? Of course she would come to know!" Lily thought to herself.

Penny broke her thoughts. "When I started dating James," she said slowly, "I knew I was taking a risk for myself because I know that James has liked you for six whole years! But I told myself that maybe our relationship would be something different to him, and not just a play along. And so far, it's been like that. He's really cared for me, and I feel special around him. And I'm also kinda sure that he likes me too."

Lily looked at her, her eyebrows raised, and said, "Then what's the problem? This is what you wanted, right?"

Penny shrugged and said, "Yeh it is, but there's more. Nowadays, I'm getting the feeling that you're starting to feel something else."

Lily's head whipped around and looked at her, shocked. "Wh-what?" she stuttered, "What do you mean?"

Penny looked at her seriously, yet a bit sadly, and said, "What I'm saying is you like James."

At that moment, all hope left Lily as she looked at Penny desperately and said, "What are you say-saying? That's not true!"

Penny nodded and continued, "Yes it is. The way you shrugged me off at the Quidditch match, just after I started dating James. The way you can't look at me and James together. And the way you look at James and talk to him."

Lily couldn't believe her ears. How could Penny have noticed all these things? 'I guess it pays off being a Ravenclaw,' Lily thought bitterly, as she struggled for words. Penny didn't let her respond as she got up and said sadly, "All I wanna say is, eventually, I know you two are going to end up together. And while James and I are still really happy together, I know he still likes you inside...and I can't do anything about that. It's like changing the inevitable."

With that, Penny turned and left, leaving a stunned Lily behind her.

"How could she possibly know all those things? James is over me; why else would he go out with Penny and stick with her for so long? The inevitable? Does everybody think that me and James are going to end up together?" Lily thought frantically as Caitlyn came up to her, slightly out of breath.

"Lily! LILY! Can you please come quickly?" Caitlyn screamed, desperate to get Lily's attention,

!"

Lily looked at her, confused. "What? I can't understand a word you're screaming!"

"Remus is in the hospital wing and Alice just got a letter, then started crying in her dorm! Can you please come quickly?" her best friend repeated once more.

Lily packed her bag quickly as they ran out of the Great Hall quickly and headed towards the Gryffindor girls' dorms; they figured that the rest of the Marauders would probably be with Remus, making sure he was fine.

As both Lily and Caitlyn entered the girls' room, they could hear Alice's sobs and the sound of comforting words from her friends. Lily immediately rushed to her side, wanting to console one of her closest friends badly.

"What happened? What's on the letter, Alice?" she asked, looking at Alice's trembling fingers as she held on to a piece of parchment.

Finally, she managed to choke out, "It's a letter from my mum. And there's one from the Ministry too. My dad was kil-killed last night during a Death Eater attack."

Lily was speechless for a moment, as she took in her friend's grief. She hugged Alice and held on to her tightly as her eyes glanced towards Caitlyn, who was standing awkwardly in the doorway. 'Caitlyn's never been such a great friend of Alice, I guess," Lily thought to herself. Her eyes met Caitlyn, as she slowly started to understand what this meant to her best friend.

"She's just lost her dad too. And Alice is going through the same thing only weeks after! It just brings back all those memories and sadness back to Caitlyn," Lily thought. Her thoughts were broken by Alice's loud sobs into her shoulder.

"He pro-promised! He promised he'd be there for gra-graduation and to see Frank! How could he just leave m-me!" the brown-haired girl wailed, clutching onto Lily for support, her body shaking violently.

Frank Longbottom had been Alice's boyfriend since the beginning of sixth year and they were still going strong. Lily always thought that they made a really cute couple.

Caitlyn finally decided to speak up, clearing her throat before she began. "I know that we're not really good friends or something, but I want you to know I'm here for you. I just went through the same thing a few weeks ago, and no one deserves that," she said sadly, thinking of her father and the happy memories they had with each other.

Alice looked up and managed her a weak smile at her, before Lily squeezed her and said, "We're all here for you, Alice. Do you want us to come to the funeral with you? And don't ever forget: they will pay. They're cruel, heartless, crazy FREAKS who murder people for no reason!"

Alice nodded and glanced up at Frank, who had just appeared in the doorway, his face filled with worry and concern. Lily, sensing they need some alone time together, stood up and hugging Alice, before leaving the room with Caitlyn.

*******break******

After leaving Ivy at her tower, Sirius proceeded towards the Gryffindor common room, wanting some time to think alone. When he entered the portrait hole, he dismally found that this would not happen. Lily and Caitlyn were on the sofas, talking to each other. Their heads shot up when he entered and Caitlyn's mouth formed an 'o' shape when she realized who it was.

Sirius froze, unsure whether to simply go up the stairs to his dorm or stick around to talk to Caitlyn. Lily, looking from Caitlyn to Sirius, realized that they needed time to figure out what was going on with them. She mumbled something about 'Head Duties' and hurriedly left the room.

"Hi," Caitlyn whispered, looking into Sirius' dark grey eyes, so nervous she was sure even Sirius could hear her heart pounding. "Hi," he mumbled back, taking a step forward towards her, before falling back onto one of the couches.

Caitlyn looked at his relaxed body and sudden felt a surge of anger pass through her. "Do you just plan on ignoring me whenever I'm there?" she snapped, sitting up straight now. He glanced at her, eyes now narrowed, as he raised an eyebrow and coolly replied, "Why? Do you want me to sit down and listen to you saying how you're falling for me?"

Caitlyn just looked at him, as if she'd been slapped. Her eyes started to burn and glisten up as she sat, transfixed in her chair, disbelieving.

"How could he say such a thing?" she asked herself, pain soaring through her veins. It had taken all her courage to admit that she was starting to have feelings for him. He was Sirius Black, god damn it! One of the most popular guys in school and one who could also make any girl fall at his feet! She thought she atleast meant something to him, but now she knew he was just playing another one of his games. And with a single blow, just like that, he had crushed her and left a broken heart.

She stood up quickly, gave him one last disbelieving look, and fled upstairs to the girls' dorms. She went too quick to hear Sirius' softly calling out her name one last time.

Sirius sighed and smacked himself on the forehead; he had been so stupid to do that! "Why couldn't I have just said something else to her?" he asked himself, feeling the self-loathing feeling take over, one that he hadn't felt since fifth year when he betrayed Remus' secret to Snape.

"You idiot! Try to be a _little_ more sensitive towards her!" a voice screamed inside his head.

'No, you did the right thing! She got angry for no reason! You were just defending yourself!" another voice screeched.

"She said she likes you! Imagine how emotional she must have been at the time! Get a grip, Sirius!"

The voices in his head kept on battling it out, until he let out a frustrated groan and left the common room in direction of the Heads' dorms. He need to talk to James urgently; the only person who would understand his dilemma would be his best friend, after all James had problems with Lily for six years and still had quite a few.

*****break*****

Lily had headed down to the Quidditch pitch to have some time to think alone. "Ironic isn't it?" she thought, "I hate Quidditch and I'm going there for my time alone!" Truth was, there was nowhere else she could think of that was more spacious and quite than the pitch at this time.

She soon made her way through the stands, noticing that there was no team practice or any other person flying in the air.

"Ah, some quiet time finally!" she thought to herself, hugging her coat to herself as a cold breeze passed her.

She let her thoughts take her to her 'meeting' with Penny earlier; 'I would hate to know that the guy I'm going out with had liked a girl for six years before her and now she likes him back,' she thought sadly, as she thought about the other girl's position.

'What would it be like to James Potter's girlfriend?' she thought to herself, letting her thoughts run wild. 'Would he treat me the same way he treats Penny? More special even? Would he do all the mushy, cheesy things some boyfriends do or would he still be flirtatious and cheeky?'

Honestly, Lily wished she could find out; but James wasn't even talking to her right now and they were in such an awkward position. Was he right? Was he just a rebound guy at the time because she was upset about Michael and Caitlyn? She wished now that she could go back to simply being his friend, talking to him and letting him make her laugh throughout classes.

'_Or__do__you__want__more__Lily_?' a voice whispered slyly in her head, knowing the answer fully.

'Ugh, this is so frustrating!' she thought to herself, 'If James wasn't going out with Penny, things would be much easier! No, Lily! You can't think like that! Penny's the perfect girl for James and he deserves to be with someone like her. She's even an amazing Quidditch player, for god's sake! Anyone can see they're compatible.' She scolded herself for thinking such things about the Ravenclaw girl. Penny had always been nice to her, and even though she didn't know her well, there was no reason to wish she were out of the way.

'But how could she know what was even going on with me?' Lily thought, overly confused. Then she smiled slightly as she thought of the fact that if anyone told her she'd have feelings for James Potter, she'd threaten to pull her wand out before laughing the whole matter off.

****Flashback****

A fifth year redheaded girl walks into the Gryffindor common room, her brunette best friend by her side. They are smiling slightly at something as they drop down on the couches, tired of classes and work.

"So Lily, succumbed to Potter yet?" Caitlyn, the brunette, winks, wanting to see the reaction on her best friend. Normally Lily would huff if someone else had commented on this but the redhead simply rolls her eyes and replies, "I'd rather date the giant squid than go out with James Potter."

Caitlyn laughs and says slyly, "I don't see what you see so bad in him, Lily. He's a marauder: funny, smart, sexy and when it comes to you, quite the romantic."

Lily raises an eyebrow, saying 'As if?', and then coolly replies, "Well you heard me. The day I go out with Potter is the day hell freezes over."

****Flashback ends****

'How things change' she thought, 'But back then James Potter was an idiot! He's become so different and ohh...' She dropped into a daydream and then hit herself for thinking such things. 'Lily, get control of yourself! He was just a rebound for when you where upset, nothing more!' she told herself, now leaving the Quidditch pitch in direction of her dorms.

*****break*****

Remus and Alexia were sitting together in the library when Peter came up to them, looking panicked. "Remus I need help with this Transfiguration homework! I can't get it righ-ohhh hi Alexia," he finished off sheepishly, noticing that the girlfriend was there too.

Alexia smiled at him warmly before Remus sighed and beckoned Peter to sit down. As he helped him with his work, Alexia looked at her boyfriend, sighing contently.

'He's the perfect boyfriend. Kind, smart, incredibly hot and just amazing!' she thought, smiling widely. 'When we first started dating, I thought uh oh, watch out he's a Marauder. A heartbreaker like the other two. And then, when he proved to be different, I thought there must have been a catch. But now I know he's just simply amazing...'

Remus, now finished with Peter, seemed to notice Alexia staring at him and turned to face her, giving her a soft smile. She broke out of her reverie and blushed slightly before fiddling with the quill in her hand.

****break****

Sirius, already knowing the password to the Head's dorms, went through the portrait hole and found James on the desk, writing a letter.

"Oi Prongs!" he said, seeking the boy's attention, "I need help."

James sighed and dropped his quill, coming over to the couch, where he beckoned his best friend to sit down and start his rant.

"," he said in a rush, blinking at James for a reply. James simply raised an eyebrow before Sirius sighed and started again, "Lily left me and Caitlyn to talk and it was really awkward but then she got all angry and I didn't know what to do so I kind of said something and she got upset and ran upstairs."

James' heart stopped at the mention of Lily's name but he listened to Sirius carefully before saying, "Padfoot, she obviously found it hard to tell you she likes you and then on top of that you don't talk to her and then you say something that upsets her so much. Obviously she's going to run away from you!"

Sirius sighed, knowing he was wrong, but still argued back, "She got angry for no reason! And how am I supposed to talk to someone when it's so awkward between us!"

James shook his head and said loudly, "But you don't just crush her like that, Sirius! She probably regrets even telling you she likes you now!"

Sirius flinched at the use of his name, before turning his back on his friend, gazing at the fire. There was a slight silence between the friends as Sirius thought about James' words. He then turned to look in his best friend's eyes and said, "You're right. I-I just got so confused over what to do...and who knew you would know what to do!" he finished cheekily, earning a pillow and a shout, "HEY!" from his best friend.

James smirked then replied back with a wink, "Well I am James Potter, Head Boy."

Sirius laughed and punched him slightly in the arm. Suddenly, they heard the portrait hole creak once more, and Lily had stepped in, her hair slightly windswept and here cheeks flushed. She looked up and blushed, seeing the one person who she was thinking about earlier.

Sirius laughed inwardly, grinned and said loudly, "Well hello Lily Flower! Come and join us!"

Lily looked uncertain for a moment, sneaking a glance at James who was looking at her smiling, and relaxed slightly. She laughed and bounced onto the nearest couch and looked up at the two Marauders.

"So," she said, "Where are the other two Marauders?"

"Hmph," Sirius replied, "Remus and Alexia are in the library somewhere and Peter is probably getting help."

James laughed and hit his best friend on the head. Sirius continued grinning proudly, "However us two Marauders, never visit the library, therefore have more time to plan pranks!"

Lily's eyes narrowed at the innocent-looking pair suspiciously then giggled and replied back smartly, "Or are you just here because something went wrong with Caitlyn?"

Sirius coloured slightly, a rare sight to see Lily noted, and looked over to his best friend for help. James smiled and said, "Sirius hardly ever has girl problems, and as for Caitlyn, you'll have to ask her herself" He winked at Lily, her face reddening quickly, as she looked away from his gaze.

Sirius grinned at his best friend, then said slyly, "Well I'm not the only one girl problems," looking directly at his best friend. James looked away, blushing then found his gaze matched with Lily's. They both looked at each other, blushing, unknowing that the hyper Marauder sitting on their side was grinning in glee, and practically bouncing up and down on the sofa. (sorry I had to say that, he sounds so cute!)

Suddenly, James cleared his throat, mumbled something about 'Marauder stuff' and dragged Sirius from the room. Lily mumbled back her byes and watched them leave, then sighed in relief when the portrait hole closed. As much as Sirius was fun, he was so sly and conniving when it came to James and Lily. She headed upstairs to her room, where she plonked herself on the bed and soon fell asleep.

*****break*****

She walked down the corridor, clutching her books to her chest. A soft watery chuckle escaped her mouth as she contemplated as to why she had started crying in the first place. She was a Ravenclaw, smarter and stronger than all of this. So what if her relationship was near to its breaking point? So what if her boyfriend considered her second best to a girl she had envied for so long, and was the epitome of perfection? So what if he was still in love with her…?

These thoughts made her stop and lean against the nearby wall, sliding down into a curled position, tears sliding down her cheeks. All she wanted, was him to love her.

Everything had gone wrong in her life, but no one ever suspected it. Not even James. Everyone just thought she had the perfect family, with the perfect house, and the perfect life, and now the perfect boyfriend…truth was, it was nothing like that.

She was miserable, she just realized. The only thing that brought life into her life, was him, and now he'd soon be gone too. Her parents were getting divorced after 5 years of constantly fighting since her brother died, and to add to that, the 6-year long dream of receiving the Head Girl badge had been washed away by the stunning redhead that seemed to take everything from her.

She didn't begrudge her; no, Lily was beyond nice to her. She just wished that there would be some flaw to her picture of perfection.

And that is why she got up and did something she knew she would regret later.

I hope you liked that! It's beeeen a LONG time since I've updated, so this story is probably ancient and abandoned to all of you, but atleast I did try D:

Vanillaberries x


	11. Chapter 11: Trouble

Would you take a step forward: Chapter 11

Okayy so I was really excited to find that I did have reviews last time!

And my other oneshot, One more time, got quite a few Favourite Story's!

Enjoyy and disclaimer: wish I was J.K. Rowling but sadly I am not, soo all characters except for Michael, Penny, Caitlyn and Ivy belong to her!

***chapter 11***

One camera flash.

Pure horror etched on her face, as she shoved him away. Her mouth felt dirty, her whole body felt dirty. She screamed and ran, smacking his face as hard as she could before doing so.

Lily winced, the memory still strong in her mind. Her cheeks were dry with salty tears, and her eyes swollen and red from all the crying. She thought bitterly of how many tears she had shed lately, and forced herself to rise from the bed covers, gathering all her strength as she did.

She wanted to forget it all, that stupid moment. What if anyone saw? Her reputation would be ruined, her friends would look at her with distaste and she'd be officially named 'Head Slut' instead of 'Head Girl'.

As she started to walk towards the mirror to see the extent of make up ruined on her face, she heard loud footsteps outside her doorway, and then suddenly the door was flung open. Caitlyn looked at her, eyes wide open, as she look at Lily with shock and surprise.

"Lily you've got to come to the Hall right now! You have to see what's going on! There's pictures…picture of you and…" her voice trailed off as Lily looked up in fright as she finally understood.

She dragged Caitlyn out of the room, running down the corridors and then finally, opening the wide doors of the Hall as she stumbled in.

The sight was horrific, it brought the tears to well up in her eyes again. She shook her head, 'No, _no_, this _isn't_ happening!'

But it was. And she wished to just disappear at that moment.

****Few hours earlier****

Lily was passing through a corridor, coming from her one of her classes, when she felt someone behind her. She turned around only to face the one and only, Aiden Zabini.

He was notorious throughout the school for his 'player' status – he constantly flirted and messed around with the occasional Hufflepuffs or Slytherins but the Ravenclaws and the Gryffindors were mostly much too smart to fall for his tricks.

He gave her a smirk, looking down at her with his piercing grey eyes. Lily shuddered as she looked into them, knowing that only trouble would follow wherever where Aiden Zabini went. He leaned in slightly, making her step back in suspicion, as he whispered in a seductive voice, "Lily Evans, the pleasure is all mine."

She raised her eyebrows at his comment, folding her arms across her stomach, before she realized that he was leaning in towards her slowly, that same tantalizing smirk stuck on his face.

It seemed like time slowed down for a second, as she recalled the similar situation with James, but that time, she actually enjoyed it…wanted it.

His smile, his face, his laugh…flashed before Lily's eyes as Aiden's face neared hers, and she stood in shock, until she felt lips crash down on hers.

They were soft, but cold, and oh, did everything feel wrong. He was grasping her tightly around the waist, while she recovered herself and finally pushed him away with all her might. Lily narrowed her eyes angrily now, staring at Zabini.

"What the hell was that? Did I show any interest in you? NO!" she screamed, her voice raising with each sentence. He offered her a sly smile, leaning against the stone wall.

"Well it's not like you're getting much of that, are you Evans?"

That question was all it took to push Lily over the edge; Zabini could see the fury in Lily's eyes as she brought her hand down on his cheek, slapping him with brutal force. He stumbled slightly, then looked back at her, shouting, "You crazy bitch! What the hell did you do that for?"

Lily glared at him, her face red with anger, as she spitted out, "I am not one of the easy girls that you pick up, Zabini. You can't just try to seduce me – I'm not easily fooled by you. Don't come near me again, or I'll make sure there'll be a lot more damage done to you."

And with that, she stalked off down the corridor, her face slowly crumbling into that of tiredness as she wished of nothing, but just to be tucked up in her bed.

Zabini stood there for a moment, shaking his head in disbelief and muttering words about 'crazy Evans' then left in a different direction.

But Lily didn't see the flash go off in the corner. She didn't see the smile on Zabini's face as she walked away from him. No, Lily was completely oblivious to what was about to happen.

*****Few hours later****

Everyone was looking at her, some with wide eyes, some with raised eyebrows judging her every move, and others were even _smirking_ with acknowledgement.

She felt a warm hand slide over a hers, squeezing it in comfort. Caitlyn gave her a weak smile, pulling her towards the Gryffindor table, glaring at people staring as they passed the other tables. Lily just focused her eyes on her friends; Remus and Sirius looked shocked to say the least, but they looked worriedly at her once they caught sight of her expression.

She couldn't bear to turn to James, see his face. She could only imagine the disappointment and judgment in his hazel eyes: slowly she brought herself to stare at him, only to find him looking back at her. She had expected to find several emotions passing through his face, but she was surprised to see that his expression was kept blank, his eyes empty as they simply looked through her.

It was almost as if she was begging him to show some sort of reaction to this mess, but he wouldn't comply. Quickly, she flitted her eyes back down, tears brimming through her eyelids. As they finally found their seats, Alice gave her a sympathetic smile as she squeezed her arm in reassurance. Several other of Lily's close friends came to her side too, offering comforting words, as they all told her they didn't believe any of the rumours or the picture.

The picture. It looked so real. It was real. Except that someone had edited it, cut it short to look as if she had been kissing Zabini.

Their position, him almost trapping her, her lack of response to push or move him away from her, was all enough to convince a simple onlooker. No wonder James had appeared emotionless – inside he must have been wanting to scream at Lily.

However, a worried thought crossed her mind, as she thought, 'What if he doesn't even care now? What if I've put him through so much, that he's just given up on me?" It was too painful to think of that now; James had become too important of a person in her life that nothing could make her give him up.

He had made her smile, genuinely smile, and always made her laugh, always made sure she was in good spirits. At first, he was constantly trying to please and impress her, but now, she could see that he only intended for her to be happy.

She sighed, and released the crumpled picture that she had clumped up in her fist, spooning a piece of pie for herself.

Penny watched as Lily entered the hall, as her gaze flickered to James, and the intense eye contact that they shared, the blank look on James' face, and the tearful expression that Lily wore, after seeing his lack of emotion.

Now she knew. She just regretted it had to be done this way.

****In Head Dorm****

Caitlyn flicked through the pages of Witch Weekly with a bored expression on her face, as she awaited Lily's return from the library. She chuckled as she yet again spotted James' face under the list of 'Hottest 10 Teen Wizards' – being the son of the Head Auror and a former quidditch champion, he was under constantly media spotlight, and the press loved that his life was close to perfection.

The portrait door suddenly swung open as someone walked through; Caitlyn 's smile quickly turned to a look of frown as she realized who it was.

Sirius halted his path as he noticed who was sitting on the couch in front of him. 'Of course she would be here, she's Lily's best friend' Sirius told himself, racking his brains for a way to get out of the situations. But he took one look at Caitlyn's face, and immediately chose the decision to sit down – it was time that he finally sorted this mess out.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, you know. It just came out, without any thinking" he told her, gazing intently at her.

"They always say that the first words are instinctive."

"I wish I could be as brave as you, tell someone I loved them, without expecting them to say it back."

"Well I certainly expect to be rejected and hurt like that."

"Again, I'm sorry. I could have handled that a lot better, but it was a first for me. And there's always a first time to learn something, isn't there?"

"I suppose."

"Look Caitlyn, I don't expect you to forgive me any time soon, but just please remember I'm really sorry, and you didn't deserve any of the hurtful things I said to you. Not many people are willing to say love you, especially to someone like me – I don't exactly have the best reputation with women. But you did it, and that's more than I can say for myself."

"Well…I guess I understand. Doesn't mean I forgive you though. It still hurt really bad. But I do accept your apology."

"Well, I guess we're good then?"

"Hmm…wait, Sirius. Who's the girl?"

"What girl?"

"You know, the one you're in love with? Is it Ivy?"

"Ivy, what no! Me and Ivy…it's just for fun. No, I'm interested in someone else."

"Oh."

Sirius felt a tug at his heart as he looked at Caitlyn's disappointed face. He wish he could tell her but the time wasn't right – she was still mad at him.

He left the room to into James' quickly, giving her a nod as he did.

Caitlyn sunk lower into the couch, her eyes threatening to water. 'No,' she told herself, 'Be strong. I never cry for a guy! Don't now!' But inside, her heart was only breaking further from the remains that were left. She wished Lily would hurry up – she didn't want to spend another minute alone with herself, feeling worse than she already did now.

Soon enough, Lily came through the door, with (what less to expect) a whole pile of books in her hands. She smiled softly at the sight of Caitlyn on the couch, falling off to asleep, and let out a small giggle as she shook her best friend's shoulders.

Caitlyn woke up with a startle, then glared at Lily, before laughing along with her.

"Hey, you surprised me! How much time does one spend in the library? I was waiting here for ages!" she said, spreading her legs across the couch.

"Well I decided after all that had happened today, it would be best if I just busied myself in some work. But it's not as if I didn't get some dirty looks while I was at it. It was alright though – Remus and Alexia have become my temporary study buddies haha! Have you seen them together? It's honestly the cutest thing ever!"

"Yeh yeh I'm sure it is. Everyone's found their special person, and are all really happy and in love, and here I am, loveless."

"Hey, join the club! But seriously Cait, what's bothering you? Something Sirius said?"

"Well…kind of. It's just I realized that everyone's starting to grow up, and move on with their lives, knowing that their time at Hogwarts is ending soon, but I'm just being left behind. Is it stupid to think that?"

"No, of course not! I know what you mean – everyone's in serious relationships, and already know what they want to do. I've just made a bigger mess of myself."

"Lily, James will come around, you know. And this whole picture thing, it'll blow over before you even know it! Just give it a little time! You have me, and so many of your other friends that care about you and love you."

"Well I could say the same for you. We all know that Sirius isn't with Ivy for anything serious. It's just who he is. But I know for a fact that he really likes you. Soon enough, he's bound to step up!"

"Well, I wouldn't be too sure. He's in love with someone else…"

"What? Did you hear him say that? That can't be true!"

"I heard him loud and clear. It's not Ivy, but some other special girl."

Lily shook her head, feeling bad for her best friend – she was oblivious to the fact that that girl was her. Sirius obviously hoped that she would catch the hint and would come to her senses, but it would take some time before something actually happened between those two.

****Next morning****

James strode out of his dorm, making his way to the Great Hall. Last night, he had vented all his feelings about Lily and the photo scandal yesterday.

He couldn't believe that Lily, his sweet, innocent Lily, would fall prey to Aiden Zabini's dirty tricks. He knew that Zabini knew his way around Hogwarts' female population but Lily was always such a hard one to get. Maybe that's what attracted him to her. Even so, he had no right to go after the Head Girl, who everyone knew was strictly not to be touched except for him.

He remembered how he used to threaten Lily's dates or previous boyfriends – the thought made him smile briefly before he caught a group of girls giggling over what clearly looked like the familiar picture of Lily and Zabini.

He knew why it angered him so much. He also knew that it shouldn't have been like that. He knew that he was supposed to be moving on from Lily, concentrating on his new relationship.

But she was like something that just didn't seem to want to let go.

Every time he tried to get her out of his head, she would inevitably appear in full form. Every time he complimented Penny on how beautiful she looked, he thought of how much more Lily would look if she were with him.

Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder, interrupting his thoughts. He turned around with an irritated look on his face, but it quickly dropped when he saw who it was.

Penny glanced at him, her huge brown eyes somehow smiling as she hugged him briefly.

She took a deep breath and started off, looking at James' slightly confused expression, "James, I have to tell you something. You know, our first date mainly revolved around you staring at Lily and getting jealous over her date. But then, when you asked me out again, I thought that maybe we had a second chance together, maybe somehow, I don't know, you could move on from Lily."

She fumbled with her fingers for a few seconds, not wanting to look at her boyfriend's face, which was now quite blank.

"Being your girlfriend has made me a very happy girl, James, and you're an extremely special guy. I honestly don't know how I'm going to find someone better." she said, laughing slightly at that sentence, "But it's not fair of me to hang on to someone, when I know that I'm standing in the way of their happiness."

James had to interrupt her here, "What do you mean? I'm happy with you!"

She raised her eyebrows slightly, giving him a knowing smile, "Are you James? Or are you just saying that to avoid acknowledging the fact that you still desperately want Lily to be with you?"

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, rocking on his feet as he did so.

"Yeh I thought so," she said, and silence fell on them for a few seconds.

"Look, I'm not angry at you. Far from it. In fact, I'm glad that you've already found someone that will always make you happy – someone you want to have a serious relationship with. I never thought I'd say this, but you've actually grown up James. And now you're exactly what Lily has been looking for the whole time."

She paused, before continuing, "So that's why I don't want to hold you back an longer. Not that you wouldn't have wanted out of this relationship anyway, but still, now I am actually breaking up with you."

She smiled ruefully at this, and gave his arm a little squeeze, looking at him a little sadly.

James stared at her face, then to her hand on his arm, and again to her face. He couldn't take all this in. She was breaking up with him? He had never given a motive for her to do so!

However, now he realized. Penny wasn't one of those selfish, materialistic girls that often flocked after him – she was smart, and knew exactly what was right for him. Lily was right for him.

He looked at her now in a different way, his eyes apologetic and his expression slightly pained.

"Penny, I…don't know what to say."

"Then don't. Just go, find Lily!"

He gave her a quick smile and a kiss on the cheek as he started to run off down the hallway, leaving her standing, looking at him.

He suddenly turned round, and said, with a genuine smile, "You know, Penny, you may just be the coolest girlfriend a guy could have. Tell me whenever you're planning to go on a date with a guy. I have to plan how I'm going to threaten or beat him up."

And with that he gave her a wink, and walked off, whistling.

Penny laughed loudly, and shook her head, glad that all that weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

***end***

So that's the end of another chapterrrrr :D

I hope you liked it! I certainly did like writing it, even though I had a huge mind blank in the middle! Why not review back which part of this chapter was your favourite: was it Lily giving Zabini a piece of his mind? Was it Sirius and Caitlyn's convo? Was it the whole James and Penny scene?

Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in about a week or two, but let's see how it goes! After that, I'll probably be updating a lot faster!

And of course, please review!

Vanillaberries x


End file.
